


Survival of the Fittest

by Whovian101



Category: Doctor Who, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Sherlock (TV), Supernatural
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2019-10-11
Packaged: 2020-03-08 09:12:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 28
Words: 32,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18891589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whovian101/pseuds/Whovian101
Summary: A bunch of people from different realities find themselves in a Survivor-like situation. They must compete in challenges to try to keep themselves alive. Friendships are created and broken and secrets are revealed.





	1. The Boat

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Guns and Ships](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/482392) by Evil Author Overlords. 



> I love comments. I would love to hear what you think, any ideas you may have, or what I should do next!

John Watson

* * *

 

John Watson opened his eyes, it was dark. He blinked his eyes a few time to make sure they were open, but the blackness remained. The second thing he found out, was that he was trapped. Well, not trapped per se, but definitely confined. His legs were pressed up against his chest, for any attempt to move them would just result in them bumping against a wooden wall of some kind.  Reaching above him, he felt his hand hit the low ceiling, that he would bonk his head against if he tried sitting up. He was in a box. “Sherlock!” He called, though his voice was strained, unused for a long time. The panic started to settle in, adrenaline surged through his veins. He kicked the wall, it pushed up slightly, it was strong, but clearly hollow. “Sherlock!” He called, louder,

“John?” Sherlock’s voice called back, “John Watson?”

“Sherlock, where are you? What the _bloody hell_ is going on? Why am I in a box?” The floor shifted below John, 

“We are in a boat.” Sherlock said dryly, “And I believe I am under you, also in a box.”

“But  _ why? _ ”

“Haven’t the slightest. What’s the last thing you remember?”

“Talking on the phone with you.” John responded, “What about you?”

“Same thing. John, I need you to shift around, and look for a hole in your crate. Any source of light.” John shifted his back, and almost winced when he saw the light that came through the hole his back was previously pressed up against. He tried to move to get his face closer to the hole, rocking the crate and making loud creaking noises in the process. When he finally looked through the hole, he relayed his observations to Sherlock. 

“You’re right. We’re definitely on a boat. There’s a… I see a railing, and the ocean. I think I see… There might be land in the distance. We’re going towards it. Oh, and there’s other crates too. Somewhere between fifteen and-” John broke off. A low moan sounded beside him, seeming to come from behind his left wall.

“fifteen and what?” Sherlock prompted.

“Shut up and listen.” John snapped. The left wall jerked, and the moan came again. “Hello?” John said slowly. “Is anyone there?”

“‘Ello?”

“Hello?” John called. From beside him, John heard Sherlock let out an exasperated sigh. 

“John, our current situation needs to be assessed much more than some ship turbulence you may be experie-” The wall jerked again, but much more violently, followed by a confused,   
“Donna? Sylvia? Donna?”

“John, apparently I was wrong,” Sherlock began. “It’s not turbulence; you have a neighbor. And ask him, if he would be so kind, to  _ shut up! _ I can’t hear myself think.” The wall abruptly stopped,

“Who are you?” The voice asked,

“British.” Sherlock commented, “Late sixties? Children by the names of Donna and Sylvia, or grandchildren?” The voice suddenly said,

“Are you one of them aliens?”

“What?” Sherlock scoffed, “My name is Sherlock Holmes, the world’s only consulting detective,” He announced, voice smug. “The other one- that’s John. He’s a short army doctor with an unhealthy tendency to attract psychopaths and state the obvious.”

“I’m Wilfred Mott.” He said, “What do you want with me? If it’s the Doctor, I don’t know where he is.”

“ _ You? _ ” Sherlock scoffed again, “I want nothing from anyone. Unless- John, is it likely Mrs. Hudson would be here? I could go for a cup of tea.” John rolled his eyes,

“Sherlock,” He warned,

“ _ Fine _ . You are in a box. I am in a box. John is in a box. There are other boxes; contents which I am not sure of, but I would not be surprised if it were people. We are all on a boat. We are heading to a strange distant land. Can your brain process that?” There was a silence, before Wilfred announced,

“I’ll bet you anything it’s them aliens who are doing this-” But he was cut off by a yell,

“Doctor! Doctor! Doctor?” The new voice was definitely British. It seemed to come from the wall to John’s right.

“Do you need a doctor? Are you injured?” John called back, 

“Not that kind of doctor.” She said defensively, “What the bloody-”

“Donna?” Wilfred’s voice said,

“Gramps?” Donna called back,

“Is that you, love?” Wilfred called back, “I told them, this has got to be the work of them aliens! Is the Doctor with you?”

“Wilfred? Donna?” A voice called, 

“Doctor? Are you alright, spaceman?” Donna screamed

“Yep.” the ilegid Doctor called, popping the ‘p.’ “I don’t have my sonic, but one of the nails in my crate are missing, so I think I can get out. I’ll just be a tick!”

“Take your time. Don’t mind me, rotting away in here!” Donna called. There was the sound of wood being shifted, and after a moment of silence, the Doctor called, “Donna? Which one are you in?” 

“What do you mean, which one?”

“There are loads of crates here.” 

“I’m over here!” Donna lead the Doctor to her. After a bit more wood shifting, there were footsteps, and the crate John was in was flooded with light as the roof was removed. He was helped to his feet by the man who must have been the Doctor. He was tall, and his hair was brown as sticky uppy. His eyes were an amber colour, and he was very handsome. He wore a blue tracksuit, but the way he kept adjusting it, implied that he didn’t wear it often. Then, John looked down, and noticed he was wearing one too, though his were red. Behind him were two other people, one was a woman who looked like she was in her late thirties or early forties. She had bright red hair with brow-length bangs swept away from her forehead. Her tracksuit, like the Doctor’s, was blue. The man next to her was shorter, and looked as though he were in his seventies, and he too wore a blue tracksuit. 

“John Watson.” John introduced himself,

“The Doctor.” The Doctor said, before moving to the next crate,

“Donna.” The woman said, following the Doctor,

“I’m Wilfred Mott.” the older man said, then followed the Doctor and Donna. John grabbed Sherlock’s crate and began trying to pry it open. Sherlock sat up, casting a glance around, his tracksuit was red as well, the colour certainly didn’t suit him. 

“Definitely the Ocean.” He sated, dashing over to the boat’s railing and leaning over, frowning.

“What is it?” John wondered,

“The ship we’re on,” Sherlock said, “it has no name. No flag, either. Nothing obvious to indicate where it came from. As of now, all I know for sure about it is that it’s some kind of small freighter ship.” Sherlock spun around to face the Doctor who had approached behind them, “Sherlock Holmes. Consulting detective,” He said, holding out his hand. The Doctor raised an eyebrow, but shook Sherlock’s hand in a firm grip,

“Sherlock Holmes, eh? I’m the Doctor. I’m- well, I do lots of different things. This is my companion, Donna Noble.” The Doctor introduced Donna, and then pulled forward Wilfred, “And this is Wilf.” Sherlock began to analyze them, murmuring things like,

“Their stance suggests a friendship, but not the normal type. A true bond. Now, Wilfred. He’s clearly Donna’s Grandfather, but he refered to him as Wilf, indicating a friendship more than a friend’s grandfather…”

“What the hell? Where am I? What the hell do you want? Am I dead again? Cas? Sam?”

The Doctor quickly removed the nails, pulling a young man in a red tracksuit out of the crate. He jumped up, smashing the Doctor against the wall, holding him securely. “Who the hell are you and what do you want?”

“I’m the Doctor.” The Doctor said, sliding right out of his grip, “and you?”  
“Dean Winchester. Now what do you want?”

“Listen, Dean.” The Doctor said calmly, “We’re on the same boat here,” his mouth quirked up at the pun, “we just found ourselves locked in crates, we have no clue why we’re here, or what they want.”

“Um, hello? Anyone mind getting me out of here?” A voice called. The Doctor ran over and quickly removed the nails. The Doctor helped up the man who sat there.

“Rickey!” The Doctor cried as the young man got to his feet. He had dark skin and wore a red tracksuit.

“It’s Mickey.” He grinned. Suddenly, there was a gasp from another crate, and the Doctor pried it open. Inside was a wide-eyed, rather handsome man who looked at the Doctor,

“Doctor.” He said, “It’s been a while.”

“So it has.” The Doctor responded. Jack noticed John looking at him, then winked at him,

“Captain Jack Harkness. Who are you?”

“Jack.” The Doctor warned, and Jack gave John another wink.

“We should split up, shouldn’t we?” Wilfred said, “See if there’s anything of use?”

“Yes!” The Doctor abruptly jumped around to Wilfred, “There could be supplies. And people! Supplies and people! Allons-y!”


	2. A Surprising Encounter

Dee Blasco

* * *

 

Dee Dee found herself in the dark. She was about to call out when she suddenly heard a voice call out, “Karen?” Then the boy cursed. “Mr. Stark? Happy? Anyone? Hello?”

“Hey!” Dee Dee called back,

“Who are you and what do you want?” The boy demanded,

“I’m Dee Dee, and I’m trapped. Where are you?”

“I don’t know. It’s really dark, I’m trapped as well.”

“What’s your name?” Dee Dee asked him,

“Peter,” The boy said, “Peter Parker.” 

After a while, a small group of people found them. Then, she heard an all too familiar shout. The crate she was in was flooded with light, and she stared at the man who had saved her. His face had visibly paled when he saw her, it had been so long, nearly six years, yet he didn’t look a day older. “Doctor?” She whispered, he gazed into her eyes, and it was then that Dee Dee saw the darkness, the pain. His eyes sparkled with memories of the past. 

“Dee Dee.” He had clearly attempted to say it formally, but his voice shook slightly. It was only then, that she realized that she was clutching a piece of paper. She bent down to examine it, the Doctor snatched it out of her hands, and looked it over.

“What is it?” She asked him, and he winced, as if hearing her voice reminded him of that day, but still responded,

“It’s a list of names.”

“Whoms names?”

“Ours.” The way the Doctor said it sent shivers down Dee Dee’s spine. She then looked around at the other people, all who were wearing tracksuits, like the one the Doctor was wearing. They introduced themselves politely, well, except for Donna. This was the friend she remembered the Doctor mentioning, and clearly she knew who she was and what she’d almost let happen to him.

“I’m sorry.” She choked out to the Doctor after a moment of silence. The Doctor gave a smile that almost reached his eyes.

“No, you were the only one who was trying to make sense out of it all, well, besides… Anyway.” Dee Dee knew exactly whom he was talking about; the hostess. They never knew her name. 

“Um… Hey, are any of you going to let me out?” Peter called out, Dee Dee jumped, she had forgotten him for a second,

“Yes, just a second!” She and the Doctor opened the crate and the boy stepped out. He was so young, couldn’t have been older than sixteen. A call from the one who introduced herself as Martha Jones, sent the Doctor jogging away from Dee Dee. She knew she had two options, she could follow him, or set off on her own. After a moment’s of hesitation, she followed him, Peter at her heels. The Doctor had forgiven her, and she felt she could trust him. 

Martha was standing by a wooden crate, much like the one Dee Dee had been stuck in. There was a pounding on the side of it, likely from whoever was inside, and Martha was soothing them as the Doctor removed the nails, then helped the girl up. The girl looked about eighteen or nineteen and had brown frizzy hair. She jumped up, searching the pockets of her red tracksuit.

“We have no possessions, if that’s what you’re looking for.” The Doctor informed the girl, she stared at him, she looked about eighteen,

“Who are you?” She demanded, “What do you want?”

“I’m the Doctor.” He said calmly, “And I’m just as stuck here as you are.” The girl was on her feet now, staring at him. 

“Who do you work for?” The Doctor quirked his eyebrow, 

“No one?” She looked around, 

“Alright, then let’s get out of here.”

It took a while, but finally, everyone was out of their crates. There had to be at least twenty-five if not thirty people there, a few of them that Dee Dee recognised. The Midnight crew were reunited. None of them seemed pleased to see the Doctor. In the past six years, Jethro had grown up quite a bit since their their trip on Midnight, he was in medical school now and had quickly grown away from his parents, as they did try to kill a man. His parents, Val and Cane, hadn’t done much, but Dee Dee had decided to follow in her father’s footsteps and become and engineer. She had left Professor Hobbes, who had stopped his research on the planet Midnight. None of them expected to meet again.

The Doctor jumped up on a crate so he stood above all of them, calling all of their attention. Once everyone had gathered around, the Doctor explained how the note Dee Dee had was found, and the man who identified as Sherlock Holmes examined it. He was talking to the man who claimed to be John Watson,

“It’s not made of any recognized material.” Sherlock was saying, “Nor is the ink. The script was clearly written by a steady hand. Other than that, I haven’t a clue.

“What does it say?” John asked the Doctor, 

“It’s the names of all the people who are supposed to be here.” The Doctor explained, then jumped back onto the crate, calling everyone’s attention again. There was a shuffling of feet, and suddenly everyone had gathered around where the Doctor was now standing. He was elevated on an empty crate. He explained the note again, then read it out for everyone to hear;

“ _ Dear participants, you are gathered here today in order to take part in what some may refer to as a game. Shortly, you will arrive on an island, where you will be given further instruction and set up camp. The following people should be present; _ ” The Doctor looked up at everyone, before continuing, 

“ _Dee Blasco._ ” Dee Dee raised her hand, “ _Biff Cane._ ” The man Dee Dee recognised as Biff, Jethro’s father raised his shaking hand, then shouted,

“Who made you in charge, then?” The Doctor raised an eyebrow,

“Because last time people stopped listening to me...” The Doctor needed to say no more, and Biff looked down at his feet, not saying anything, so the Doctor continued. “ _Jethro Cane_.” Jethro raised his hand silently, clearly not wanting to take after his father, “ _Val Cane_.” Jethro’s mother raised her hand, clutching the hand of her husband in the other hand. “ _Hermione Granger,_ ” The girl with frizzy hair raised her hand, “ _Jack Harkness._ ” Jack Harkness had been flirting with another man, then turned, and raised his hand, giving the Doctor a wink. He was a tall handsome young man with short brown hair. “ _Winfold Hobbes._ ” The Doctor said the professor’s name in such a monotone voice, that Professor Hobbes visibly shivered as his hand raised, but said nothing. “ _Sherlock Holmes, Molly Hooper, Martha Jones, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Wilfred Mott, Donna Noble, Peter Parker, Harry Potter, Peter Quill, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Rickey Smith_ -”

“It’s Mickey!”

“Rickey. _ Sarah Jane Smith, River Song. _ ” Dee Dee had a strange impression of River song. She had a vivacious mop of blonde corkscrew curls. She gave off a strange vibe. “ _ John Watson, George Weasley, Ron Weasley, Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, Castiel, Mantis, Me, and- _ ” The Doctor stopped abruptly, then softly said, “ _ Jenny _ ?” Donna and Martha seemed to know exactly who he was thinking about by their expressions. “Jenny?” The Doctor called again, louder. Then there was  a scream, and the Doctor went running towards it, realizing what had happened. A box fell into the Ocean below, and immediately, in a spark of hope, the Doctor ran to the railing and dove into the water. There was a flailing, as the Doctor attempted to tread water and open the crate at the same time. All of a sudden, the box opened. He pulled the girl out, and while he tread in the water, whispered “Jenny.” Out of seemingly nowhere, Jack threw a rope into the Ocean after them, holding on to one end, and tying it down. The Doctor hoisted Jenny up first, she climbed up, then the Doctor followed. Both of them were soaking wet, and holding each other in a tight embrace. This was the moment that Dee Dee noticed he was crying. It was hard to tell in the water, but now it was more obvious. He held her for a long time, and just whispered, “Oh, Jenny.”

Then, without warning, the boat crashed.


	3. Dry Land

Molly Hooper

* * *

 

Molly picked herself up off the sandy beach. She was about twenty meters away from the ship, that was currently tipped on its side. Picking herself up, she looked around. Everyone but Peter Parker, Castiel, the Doctor and Jenny seemed to be disoriented. Sherlock jumped up, flicking his dark, curly hair out of his eyes. Molly gazed at him, his face was dark and analytical, it was almost like confusion? Molly almost laughed, the idea of Sherlock being confused was unusual, but he seemed to have no clue what was going on. She walked up to him, “A penny for your thoughts?” She asked, and to her surprise, he answered,

“That Doctor, who is he?”

“I haven’t a clue.” Molly responded, and Sherlock grunted in agreement, then, began deducting, 

“The sand implies white shells and rocks, the air temperature indicates perhaps a mediterranean island-”

“Not on Earth, but made to simulate and island on Earth…” Molly turned around to hear the Doctor talking to Jenny, Dee Dee, Wilfred, Donna, Martha, Mickey, Sarah Jane, River Song and Jack, “... other than that though, I haven’t a clue. Got anything River?” Molly’s attention was shifted to River Song, who said a frustrated,

“My manipulator is gone. I have no way to tell. And how do you know it’s not Earth? The gravity’s the same.” The Doctor nodded, then just shrugged,

“It’s the air, it doesn’t taste right.” Molly looked back to Sherlock who’s brow was furrowed, deep in thought.

“Is everyone alright?” The call of Steve Rogers had everyone turn in his direction. The Doctor called off the attendance again, and once everyone was accounted for, Sherlock picked up a box off the ground. The Doctor noticed, and hurried over. Inside was another note,

“What’s it say?” Molly asked, and the Doctor looked back down at it, and Donna called everyone’s attention in her very loud voice. The Doctor stood on top of another crate and read,

“ _ On this island, you will be subjected to a series of social, analytical, mental, and physical tests. From this beach, there are three paths. One is northern, one is northeastern, and one is northwestern. You will be immediately split into teams, each team will be made up of eight members. The first team will take the northeastern path, the second will take the northern past, and the third will take the northwestern path. _ ” There was a moment of silence, a wonder, Molly looked at Sherlock’s thinking face, praying to whatever was hanging about she’d be on a team with him, but his red tracksuit and her blue tracksuit told her this wouldn’t be the case. If this was some kind of hunger games, she knew she was not cut out for it. She worked with already dead bodies, Sherlock worked with the crazy people. The Doctor continued, “ _ Team one will be the team in green; Mantis, Peter Quill, Martha Jones, Ron Weasley, Peter Parker, Val Cane, Biff Cane, Sarah Jane Smith, Harry Potter, Jack Harkness, and Sam Winchester.  _ Molly was quite concerned that she wouldn’t be with Sherlock, but she felt the Doctor, who was wearing a matching blue tracksuit, would be a good competitor if it came down to it. The Doctor continued, “ _ Team two will be the team in blue;  Jethro Cane, Jenny, me, Molly Hooper, Wilfred Mott, Luna Lovegood, Dee Blasco, George Weasley, Donna Noble, and Dean Winchester. _ Biff and Val were trying to talk with their son, Jethro, who wasn’t having any of it. Donna and Wilfred seemed happy to be staying together. Mickey was clearly distraught, as he held Martha in his arms, and Molly noticed she was wearing a wedding ring. They were married, and now they were being seperated. John turned to Sherlock, and Sherlock began to talk to John quickly and quietly. “ _ Team three will be the team in red; _ ” The Doctor continued, “ _ Steve Rogers, Neville Longbottom, Hermione Granger, Sherlock Holmes, River Song, Natasha Romanoff, Mickey Smith, Winfold Hobbes, John Watson, and Castiel. _ ” River Song walked up to the Doctor and whisper something in her ear. Molly didn’t catch what she said, but the Doctor gave her a nod back, and said,

“Good luck River.” and she then lead her team to the northwestern path. The Doctor beckoned for his team to follow him to the northern path. Molly was about to follow, when Sherlock grabbed her arm and hissed,

“Tonight, once everyone else has gone to bed, meet me back here.” Molly nodded, and followed the Doctor. They soon found a small camp with four small huts, each with two beds. There were boxes of tools, and a small fire pit in the center of the area. The Doctor quickly took charge,

“Does anyone have any extraordinary abilities?” Molly shook her head, as did Donna, Wilfred, Dee Dee, and George. But Jethro put in, 

“Uh, I’ve been going to medical school, so…yeah…”

“Brilliant.” The Doctor said fondly.

“I can read oras.” Luna said, her voice was wispy and far off. “And I like to talk to animals.” The Doctor nodded, as if talking to animals was completely normal, and Dean said, 

“I’m a good shot.” The Doctor made a face, but said nothing. He then turned back to the rest of the group.

“Alright, we need fire, food, and clean water. Luna, can you make a fire pit?” Luna nodded, then furrowed an eyebrow,

“But I’ve got no wand.” The Doctor looked confused for a moment, so Wilfred pitched in,

“I can make a fire.” The Doctor nodded, 

“Good, good. You and Donna, start the fire pit. Jenny, do you think you, Jethro, and George can go find some food?” They nodded, and headed out into the forest. 

“We can get clean water by boiling it.” The Doctor began thinking aloud, “Luna and Dean, can you two find a pot and boil some water?” The two of them nodded, “The rest of us will go through the crates to see if we can find anything useful.” There was a collective nod, and the team scattered.

From what Molly could see, it looked like there weren’t many useful tools in the boxes, but the Doctor seemed overjoyed with their findings, throwing tools together, in a way Molly never thought they should go. Molly found herself noticing the similarities between the Doctor and Sherlock. The Doctor just seemed wiser and more compassionate. Without warning, there was a crash of thunder and a voice rang out throughout the entire island:

“ _ Listen for the midnight bell and return to the ship.”  _ It looked like Molly would be able to meet Sherlock tonight.


	4. Campfire Bonding

Peter Parker

* * *

 

Peter wasn’t entirely sure what to make of his team. Peter Quill and Jack Harkness were arguing over who would be leader and exchanging innuendos, Mantis was observing the two of them. Martha Jones was laughing with Sarah Jane Smith over the Doctor, clearly they both already knew him and were talking about something called a TARDIS, whatever that was. Biff and Val Cane were fretting over their son, Jethro, who was off with the Doctor. The way they spoke about him, they had clearly met the Doctor before, but weren’t as friendly with him as Martha and Sarah Jane seemed to be. They didn’t trust him. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were whispering to each other, they seemed to be only a bit older than Peter was, he was fifteen, and they were maybe nineteen at the most. Sam was on his own, thinking quietly. Suddenly, there was a loud clap of thunder, and a voice rang across the island:

“ _ Listen for the midnight bell and return to the ship. _ ” There was silence, then Peter Quill asked,

“What time is it?”

“I don’t think anyone here’s got a watch, Quill.” Peter said, not meaning to be as snarky as he was, but Jack was absolutely cracking up with laughter.

“Peter Parker, right kid?” Jack laughed,

“Yes, I’m Peter.” Peter sighed, “And I’m not a kid.”

“Everyone’s a kid to me.” Jack laughed, “2161 years old,” Jack gave Peter a wink, “Still lookin’ good.” Peter stared at Jack,

“So, are you like, not human?” Jack laughed,

“No, I’m human, just from a bit further ahead of your time.”

“But I thought you were from a long time ago.”

“I am, but I’m also from the future.” Peter quirked his eyebrow, then Peter Quill cut in,

“Hey, Star-Lord here, if you’re wondering, I’m from space.” Jack and Peter swiveled around to Peter Quill,

“Where are you from then?” Jack asked, 

“Literally space. My team and I travel through space. Not that you would know about that kind of stuff, being from Earth and all.” Jack scoffed,

“I know more than you think.” He gave Star-Lord a wink. Star-Lord grinned back, 

“Sorry, I’ve already got a girl.”

“Great, she can come too.” Jack grinned, then turned to Mantis, “Well, you’re certainly not from around here.”

“No. I am not from the parts of here.” She smiled innocently,

“Where are you from, then?” Jack elaborated, 

“Space.” She said mystically,

“Okay…” Jack said, “What species are you?”

“I am an empath.” She smiled,

“That’s not a species.” Jack pointed out, then asked, “What, touch empath?”  
“Yes, I touch.” She placed her hand on Jack’s and looked at him, 

“You feel sadness, sadness for your tea boy. He is very important to you, and you miss him even though you have seen him very recently. You think he would find all of this funny.” Jack retracted his hand, nodding,

“Who’s your tea boy?” Star-Lord laughed,

“One more lay than you’ll ever get.” Jack grinned,

“Oh, you really think so?”  
“Um, guys, shouldn’t we be thinking about the message the sky just yelled at us?” Peter cut in. Everyone turned to Peter, as if just remembering he was there, and suddenly, his spidey sense told him something was coming from his left and he launched dove out of the way as Mantis went to touch him. Jack grinned,

“Quick on your feet, that’s a good skill to have, kid.”

“What even are all of you?” Biff asked, appalled,

“Good plan, we should learn more about each other. Circle up!” Jack called, and all ten of the team sat down in a circle, some more cooperative than others. Peter placed himself right next to Martha Jones and Harry Potter. “Alright, I’ll go first.” Jack said, “I’m Captain Jack Harkness.” He gave a wink to Sarah Jane, who rolled her eyes, clearly this was not their first encounter, “I’m an ex-time agent, from the 51st century, I’ve been traveling lately, and I’m a 2161 year old immortal human, Quill?” Jack looked towards Star-Lord, as many of the team attempted to cope with the fact that Jack was an ancient and immortal human. 

“If you’re human, how comes you’re immortal?” Ron Weasley asked, 

“Long story, good friend of mine looked into the heart of a sentient time and space traversing police telephone box. Wished me to life, stayed that way ever since.” 

“Well, I’m Peter Quill, better known as Star-Lord, the ass kicking space pirate. I’m half-human on my mom’s side.” They turned to Martha,

“I’m Martha, er, just your average human. I work with UNIT in London and I’m a doctor, so if anyone sustains an injury, you can come to me.” There was a nod, and all eyes fell on Peter, and he had a quick decision to make.

“I’m Peter, just a normal, human, teenage boy.” He had said it, and there was no going back now. He had decided to hide his identity. He really hoped this wouldn’t come back to bite him.

“I’m Harry.” Harry said, “Harry Potter.” There was a silence, then Star-Lord said,

“And…”

“Oh, er, I’m a wizard. I just graduated Hogwarts.” Jack shrugged,  
“It was bound to exist somewhere in the universe, you human, Harry?”

“Yes?” Harry seemed confused, clearly he came from a place where his name was common knowledge, but Peter had never heard of him before.

“I’m Ron.” Ron said next, “I’m human, and a wizard, like Harry.” 

“I’m Biff Cane, but you can call me Mr. Cane.” Biff said, gesturing to Harry, Ron, and Peter. 

“I’m not a kid.” Peter mumbled, but Biff continued, “I am a human.” He shot a vicious glare to Mantis, the only physically clear alien in the group.

“Anything else?” Star-Lord asked,

“Nothing else is your business.” Biff said firmly,

“He reminds me of Uncle Vernon.” Peter heard Harry tell Ron, though he was the only one who heard, and it didn’t matter much because he had no clue who Uncle Vernon was anyway. “And this is Val, or you can call her Mrs. Cane.” Biff continued,

“Maybe you should let her speak for herself.” Sarah Jane said harshly,

“Now, you –”

“No, it’s quite alright, Biff.” Val said, “I’m normal, just another human.”

“This isn’t about humanity.” Sarah Jane said, “It’s about skills and knowledge. Or are you telling me you haven’t any.” Biff looked like he was about to smack Sarah Jane across the face, when Mantis smiled and said,

“I am Mantis, and I am an empath. I like to feel feelings.” There was a quiet nod, as everyone looked at Sarah Jane.

“I’m Sarah Jane.” She said, “I’m human, but have spent my fair share of time traveling through time and space.”

“I’m Sam.” Sam said, “I hunt monsters with my brother, Dean.”

“Okay,” Star-Lord said, “We should figure out how much we each know about the other people in the other groups. Who knows anything about anyone?”

“The Doctor.” Biff Cane said immediately, “He is dangerous.” Jack laughed, then seemed to realize that Biff wasn’t joking,

“He wouldn’t hurt anyone.”

“You don’t know him like we do.” Val said, “We were on an innocent trip to the sapphire waterfalls, and in walks this ‘Doctor,’ and we were kind and inviting, and then suddenly, there was a creature on board. And the Hostess, she, she –” Val burst into tears,

“So we did some research on him, this Doctor who came out of nowhere, and we found him. It was hard, and took a long time, but we found the legend of the Doctor. Do you know who he is, Mr. Harkness? He is a Time Lord. They are dangerous, known for wreaking havoc and leaving nothing but a trail of dust and blood in their wake. And him in particular, he destroys planets. He lures young humans to their deaths with promises of time and space-travel. He is a monster. If we are up against him, we have little hope of surviving. I propose that we kill him first.” Jack, Sarah Jane, and Martha Jones jumped up, 

“I’ll have you know that I’ve traveled with him!” Sarah Jane said, “He is none of the things you say he is. He showed me the stars, then dropped me home in time for tea!” From Sarah Jane’s expression, she seemed to be stretching the truth a bit, but neither Biff nor Val seemed to pick up on it, and so Peter wasn’t about to mention it. 

“He secured me a job in UNIT!” Martha added, 

“I tried to con him, and he saved me from gas-mask nanogenes trying to fix the world by making everyone dead children.” Everyone looked at Jack, who just shrugged, 

“Well, be grateful you survived.” Biff said angrily,

“You know what? Everyone who believes us can stay on this side of camp!” Jack drew a line in the dirt, “Everyone else can take that side!”

“Jack!” Martha gasped, but Jack was seething with anger. As much as Star-Lord bickered with Jack over leadership, he followed him to the left, Mantis in toe. Martha and Sarah Jane followed them. Val and Biff stepped across the line to the left, but Harry, Ron, and Sam, followed by a very timid Peter, followed Jack.”  
“See, it’s only the two of you!” Jack bellowed, 

“Well, we’ll just have to remember this when you’re lying dead at our feet!” Biff spat, and the two of them disappeared into a hut.


	5. Capture the Flag

Steve Rogers

* * *

 

As promised, at midnight, a large bell chimed out in the night. Steve originally tried to take control of his team, but with Natasha, River Song, and Sherlock, he was pretty sure that it wouldn’t be him in control. Finally, the combined fierceness of River Song and Natasha, who got along surprisingly well, earned them the leadership of the group. They stepped out towards the boat, unsure what to expect. To his surprise, the boat was gone, and in its place, there were marks in the sand dividing a large rectangle into thirds. Towards the back of each third rested a box. “Molly.” Sherlock grabbed Molly aside the moment her team arrived, and they began to talk. The second the green team showed up, thunder rang out in the sky, and the voice said:

“ _ Today you will be playing the Sol III game of Capture the Flag. You each have a clue on your third of the playing field, but the clue is for another team’s flag, and your flag’s location will remain unknown unless you make a deal with whichever team has your own. You have five minutes to make a plan, when the bell chimes, the game will begin. _ ” Natasha had already grabbed the clue out of the box, River Song looked at the clue and whispered it to the rest of the team

“The man of the stars won’t stop dreaming of his home he can never have. The flag has been hidden in a place he’d only let his wife into.” She stared,

“What does that mean?” Professor Hobbes asked, River Song stood up,

“I know exactly what it means. We need to find something that looks like a brain.”

“That doesn’t make sense.” Natasha stated, “Why would a husband only let his wife know what’s in his head? Wouldn’t he have some friends? Something?”

“Not the man it’s talking about.” River Song said, climbing a tree to get a good overlook,

“We don’t even know what colour it’s for.” Steve said, still confused,

“It’s for blue.” River Song said knowingly, “It’s talking about the Doctor. I’m his wife.”

“But he doesn’t treat you as his wife.” Sherlock observed, “He clearly has met you before, but he was shocked to see you, as if he never thought he would reincounter you. You trust him completely, and he does you, but you seem to know much more about him than he does you. Perhaps it’s the PTSD he has, as you seem to remind him of a traumatic memory. He was a soldier once, fighting on the front lines, but has not fought for a long time, as he often allows his stature to drop significantly in a way an active soldier never would. He –”

“That’s quite enough, Mr. Holmes.” River Song said suddenly, 

“Oh, interesting, you are concerned for his secrets. You know he’s got things he should hide.”

“And you will continue to help me hide them. You don’t know who I am, but I have made Daleks cry for mercy, heaven knows I can make you do that too.” Sherlock laughed (Actually laughed!)

“You remind me of Irene Adler.” 

“Yes, dear friend of mine.”

“Um, shouldn’t we get back to, you know, looking.” Steve said, scanning the ground,

“There.” Cas pointed, there was a small brain-shaped bush.

“Neville, you’re the distraction for the team, run towards the water.” Natasha hissed, Neville looked up, looking as though he might vomit, 

“A-are you sure I’m the best candidate?” He asked,

“Yes, it’s the least consequential if you die.” Sherlock said without another thought, 

“No life is inconsequential.” Steve snapped, “I say you go.” Sherlock shrugged, stood up, and walked swiftly towards the water, saying,

“I’ll do it better anyway.” Steve started to make his way around the trees to the blue third, as he neared, he heard the Doctor say,

“It’s a distraction, they are hiding in the trees, Molly, distract Sherlock.” Molly walked over to Sherlock,   
“Sherlock.” She said, and they began to talk, Sherlock seemed to still be casting an eye around, Suddenly, Wilfred started to wave the small green flag in the air as he crossed back across the blue border, 

“I got it! I got it!” Everyone seemed stunned, clearly no one had suspected the old man to manage to do anything, yet here he was,

“Brilliant, Wilf!” The Doctor grinned, and the stakes just jumped up, suddenly, Natasha came from behind the Doctor, locking him in a headlock, trying to distract him as someone grabbed the flag, but the Doctor swiftly flipped her over his back with an unanticipated amount of strength, she easily landed on her feet, and Steve took the opportunity to run out to try to get to the flag, but suddenly, he felt a foot collide with his head, and he was knocked to the ground. Jenny stood above him, grinning, 

“Good try.” She said, but the unstoppable team of Natasha and River Song managed to bypass the Doctor and make it to the flag. They tossed it to Mickey, who ran back to rejoin Neville, Professor Hobbes, John, Castiel, and Hermione on their side. Suddenly, thunder rumbled again, but, instead of the voice, lightning flashed, striking where Val once stood. Biff stared at the circular symbol that took her place, “VAL!” He cried out, then quickly turned on whom Steve could only assume had taken charge of their group, Jack. “This is your fault!” He yelled, “You killed her! She’s dead and it’s YOUR FAULT!” Then, he pivoted, “No, what the  _ hell _ am I thinking, it’s you, isn’t it?” He stormed over to the Doctor, “You are the reason we’re all here. What’s important about us? Nothing, except the fact that we met you, and now, we’re wherever we are, and YOU’VE DONE THIS TO US!” 

“I didn’t –” The Doctor stepped back, he was as shocked as Biff himself, “I never –” This clearly was awakening unpleasant memories in the Doctor, and in a moment, Jenny, Donna, Martha, River Song, Mickey, Sarah Jane, Wilfred, Jack, and Dee Dee were by the Doctor’s side, but he waved them off. With another clap of thunder, the voice returned:

“ _ Get your rest. Tomorrow brings more fun. _ ”


	6. Team Strategy

George Weasley

* * *

 

George returned to camp with the rest of the team. He was beginning to be sceptical of this Doctor. He was an unusual man, and Biff said the only reason they all were there, but he’d never met the Doctor before, so that couldn’t be it, could it? But one look at the man told him all he needed to know.

The morning came before George was prepared, the sun shone into window, waking him up. He wasn’t sure if he would ever truly get used to waking up without a brother at his side. The absence of Fred still broke his heart. He stepped outside, only to find the Doctor, head in his hands, sitting next to Jenny. “Doctor?” George called, the Doctor looked up slowly, something told him that he’d known he was there,

“Yes, George? What do you need?” He asked, his voice and face portrayed joy and curiosity, but his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“You met Val and Biff before, didn’t you?”The Doctor paled slightly, Jenny looked at the Doctor with concern,

“Yes, yes I met them.” The Doctor said, he face dropping down a step, “We got stuck somewhere together, anyway, it doesn’t matter. Jenny and I are about to go out to see what resources we can find in the woods, maybe we can make more tools.” Brushing off the change of subject, George shrugged, 

“I’ll go collect some more water.”

“Good, that’s good.” The Doctor stood up and walked into the forest. Jenny following him, 

“Dad?” She called after him, 

“Dad?” George spun around, “How is he your dad? He doesn’t look nearly old enough.”

“I’m not as old as you might think.” Jenny laughed, “And he’s a bit older.”

“Okay…” George said, unsure what to think, when Luna walked out of her hut. 

“The Lipnups are out early, aren’t they.” The Doctor just nodded and said,

“Yes, they are out early. I think the days here are a bit shorter and they’re confused.”

 

“I think we need to strategize.” Jenny said once the entire team was together, “We need to know each other and our opponents.”

“Okay,” Molly pulled out the attendance paper, “What do we know about Biff Cane? He said he knew you, Doctor.”

“Yes, er, we met once.” At the mention of Biff, George noticed the Doctor pale slightly.

“What do you know about him?” Wilf pushed,

“He’s my dad.” Jethro said, taking the eyes off the Doctor, “He hasn’t got many skills to be honest. I mean, he works in marketing, so I guess he’s good with numbers and stuff, I really don’t know. He’s been camping once, so I guess he knows the basics, but he’s not someone meant for survival.” There was a nod, and Molly read the next name: 

“Hermione Granger.”

“She’s my friend.” Luna said, “She’s very clever. She’s a bit stubborn and stiffy, though.”

“What about Jack Harkness?” 

“He’s a very aggressive fighter.” The Doctor supplied, “He likes guns and all that, not a fan of the guns, personally, but I’ve done some traveling with him. He’s from the 51st century and is an immortal ex-time agent. Tried to con me once in 1941 London, but then joined us when I saved him from nanogenes.”

“Us?” Donna asked, clearly she had heard this story before, but no ‘us’ had been mentioned. The Doctor’s eyes saddened a little at the mention of this other person, 

“Yes, me and a friend of mine. Rose.” Donna gave the Doctor a sympathetic look, clearly she knew what happened with this mysterious Rose, and why he was so sad about it.

“Wait,” Molly said, “How can he be immortal?”

“Er, long story, a friend of mine looked into the heart of the TARDIS and wished him back to life.”

“What’s a TARDIS?” Jethro asked curiously,

“She’s my ship.” Jethro let out a small, “Oh.” And Molly cleared her throat, 

“How about Winfold Hobbes? Does anyone know him?”  
“I used to be his assistant.” Dee Dee said brightly, “He’s a human scientist, definitely not a survivalist. He’s clever, but he’s quite, well, rash.” Dee Dee exchanged a look with the Doctor, but said nothing.

“Sherlock Holmes.” Molly read out, “I know him. He’s an absolute genius. He can tell someone’s entire life story just by one look. He’s quick on his feet, but he is, as he likes to be called, ‘A highly functioning sociopath.’ He works with Scotland Yard as a consulting detective. He shares a flat with John Watson, an ex-army doctor from Afghanistan. I’ve got no idea how he’s put up with Sherlock for so long, but they are always out solving some case. John blogs about all of their cases.”

“You seem to know quite a lot about this chap.” Wilf said, “How do you know him?”

“Oh,” Molly blushed, “I work in the morgue. He comes when he needs a body or some fingers or something for his experiments or when he needs something for a case.” She glanced around, then said, “Anyway, what about Martha Jones.”

“Oh, she’s brilliant.” The Doctor smiled, “Very clever, a doctor, now works for the Unified Intelligence Taskforce, soldier, works with guns.” The Doctor made a face, clearly he wasn’t a fan of guns.

“Okay, Neville Longbottom.” Everyone looked at the Doctor, as he seemed to know most people, but he shrugged, 

“I’ve never met him.”

“I have.” Luna smiled, “He’s nice, likes plants. Harmless really, but brave, though he can be a bit of a coward.”

“Okay…” Molly seemed somewhat confused at the answer, but continued anyway, “Peter Parker.” Hermione noticed the Doctor seem about to say something, he opened his mouth, then closed it. When it opened again, he simply said, 

“Seems like a normal teenage kid to me, if not very clever.” One look at his face told differently, clearly Peter was unlike any teenage kid, but George would ask the Doctor about that later, as no one else looked at his expressions, his words portrayed all the energy and excitement, he didn’t need to with his face. But Fred had been the same, he was the same.

“Harry Potter.” 

“He’s the chosen one.” Luna said simply, “He was attacked by Lord Voldemort as a baby and somehow survived the killing curse. No one’s done it before, and no one’s done it since. He’s a brilliant Quidditch player and is quite good in Defence Against the Dark Arts. He lived with his Muggle aunt, uncle, and cousin.” The Doctor gave a nod, and Molly continued,

“Peter Quill.” There was a silence. Even the Doctor didn’t seem to know who he was. So, they continued, “Steve Rogers.”

“He’s Captain America.” The Doctor said, “I’ve heard of him, kid of Brooklyn turned Super-Soldier, was frozen in ice for seventy years.”

“Natasha Romanoff.”

“She’s Black Widow. Avenger of New York, used to be an agent for SHIELD. Very clever. Rumored to be undetectable.”

“Mickey Smith.”

“Martha Jones’s husband. Brave, loyal.” The Doctor shrugged and motioned for Molly to continue.

“Sarah Jane Smith.”

“Oh! Sarah Jane Smith! Brilliant woman traveled with me for a long time. Very clever, resourceful, brilliant.”

“River Song.” Everyone looked at the Doctor expectantly,

“Er, I actually don’t know much about her. I’ve only met her once, though I know she’s met me loads more, timelines and all that. All I know is that she’s a time-traveling archaeologist, and very clever.”

“John Watson,” Molly said, “Like I said, He works with Sherlock, was an army doctor in Afghanistan, not particularly bright, but I suppose he’s got to be picking something up from hanging around Sherlock for all this time.” Molly glanced down at the paper again, “Ron Weasley.” 

“That’s my brother.” Everyone wheeled around at George, no one but the Doctor had heard him talk since they arrived. He had quieted down considerably since Fred, and he no longer was very extroverted. He had contracted himself. “He’s eighteen, terrified of spiders, a bit of a coward at times, but when someone important to him is on the line, he’s much braver. He’s brilliant a Wizard Chess, a fair flyer in Quidditch, but can be a bit moody.”

Everyone looked at Molly again,

“Sam Winchester.”

“That’s my brother.” Dean said, but said nothing more.  
“Anything else about him?”  
“No.” Dean growled menacingly.

“All right then, Mantis.”

“She’s an alien.” Wilf said, confidently,

“Yes, we’re well aware.” Jethro said. 

“What about Castiel?”

“He’s my friend.” Dean said. Realizing that Dean was going to say nothing more, they all looked at Molly, who said.

“That’s it.” Suddenly, thunder rumbled again, and George heard the Doctor say:

“Just in time.” As the voice cried out again:

“ _ Goodnight _ .” George felt a prick in his arm, and immediately fell over. Vaguely, he saw he other team members fall as well, but his vision was getting all spotty and suddenly, the world went dark.


	7. The Great Obstacle Course

Sam Winchester

* * *

 

Sam opened his groggy eyes. He was in the middle of the beach, tied to the rest of his teammates and what looked like an obstacle course stood in front of them. Groans echoed across the beach, it seemed that others were waking up too.

“Mornin’ Sammy.” Jack’s voice whispered seductively in his ear.

“Don’t call me that.” Sam said back automatically, “Only Dean gets to call me that.”  
“Well, there can be exceptions to every rule.” Jack grinned and gave him a seductive wink.

“Damn it, Jack!” Martha called from further down the rope that was tying them all together, “Leave him alone!”

Jack made a face, but left Sam alone.

“What the hell?” Biff had awoken. “Where the hell am I? Val? What the –” He let out an outraged cry, remembering the night before.

“Just give him time.” Sarah Jane said patiently. 

“He feels much anger.” Mantis said mystically.

“We know.” Ron said moodily.

“I’ve got a note.” Peter said timidly and all three teams went quiet, straining to hear the nervous boy. “ _ Tonight you shall compete in a competition. Tied together, you must make your way through an obstacle course. The last team to the end will lose. Think of this as a warm-up act for what’s to come. Tied together, your team must climb over a cargo net, up a rope, then commando crawl under barbed wire. You must then climb over three walls, then find a way to climb up the a ten-foot concrete wall. You will then run to the finish where you will find another note and go from there. _

_ Have fun.” _

The beach remained silent. There was suddenly the bang of a gong, though none was in sight, but everyone seemed to get the message and began to run. The order of Sam’s team went thus. At the front was Peter, then Jack, then it was Sam, Peter, Ron, Star-Lord, Martha, Mantis, Harry, Biff, then Sarah Jane at the back.

The cargo net was actually much harder than Sam had expected. The team grasped at it uncoordinatedly, trying to get up. Sam looked to the other teams on their courses. Red had Steve, Natasha, River Song, Sherlock, and Castiel up the cargo net, but Neville, Mickey, Professor Hobbes, John, and Hermione all struggled immensely. The blue team was doing much better. The Doctor, Jenny, Jethro, George, and Dean had already made it up, and they were lifting the rest of the team up, with the help of their feet, but mostly by the rope.

“Come on!” Sam cried as the team slipped grasped, “Do what blue’s doing!”

Surprisingly, Peter was already up, he had climbed quite skillfully. Jack was the next up, followed by Sam. Then came Harry and Ron, and, like blue, they began lifting the rest of the team up. 

By the time the team was at the top, blue was already moving on, and red had just finished.

“Come on, we’re last!” Peter called, racing ahead, he was shockingly fast, only to be pulled back by the rope and nearly falling over.

Peter surprisingly made it easily up the rope they needed to climb, Martha climbing up skillfully after, followed by Jack, and Sam made his way up relatively easily. Star-Lord was next, they were making good time. Blue team had already finished, they had a good teamwork system, but the red team wasn’t working together very well. The skillful ones perched at the top of the platform and simply watched the others struggle, shouting down techniques.

“Let’s go! Let’s go!” Star-Lord called as they dragged an unhelpful Biff up the rope.

They began their commando crawl under the barbed wire. Blue as still very far ahead, and red right behind them.

“Not a bad view.” Jack said, Peter blushed and moved a bit faster. To be perfectly honest, Jack reminded Sam a lot of Dean, except the whole flirting with guys thing, although, there always was Cas…

“Biff, can you please _ try  _ to help?” Martha hissed as she dragged him behind her.

“I’m moving as fast as I can!” Biff shouted angrily, “I’ve got a bad knee!”  
“Do you see Wilf complaining?” Sarah Jane shouted from up the rope. They turned to the blue team where Wilfred Mott had just finished the commando crawl, he looked a bit stiff and was moving slightly slower, but kept moving forward at a good rate. 

Biff grumbled, but began to pick up the pace simply for his dignity.

Red closed the gap, pulling ahead as the more dominant members dragged the less dominant through the mud.

The walls were next, blue was just getting over their first as red and green made their way out of the commando crawl and to the wall. 

“The only way we’re gonna win is if we work together, because red clearly can’t.” Sam said reasonably. “We’ll all jump up on three, one, two, three!” The ten of them jumped up, gripping the wall.

“And over in three,” Sarah Jane said, “One, two, three!” 

They pushed themselves over, Martha still mostly dragging Biff.

“Here’s the second one.” Harry said, trying to take the lead, “One, two, three.” They pushed their way onto it. 

By the time they got over the third wall, the red team had fallen behind, Natasha and Sherlock were arguing now, and from the looks of it, no one on the team seemed a big fan of Sherlock besides John. 

“How the hell are we supposed to get over this?” Biff asked as they all stared up at the large wall.   
“We could stack.” Sarah Jane suggested, “Then help pull the rest up.”  
“That might just work.” Sam said, watching the blue team finish doing exactly that.

“I call bottom!” Jack grinned, winking at Sam, taking his position as the base. Sam based as well as Biff (There was no way he was about to climb over alone), and Star-Lord. Then came Harry, Ron, and Martha, and higher up was Sarah Jane and Mantis. Peter vaulted over first, easily making it.

“Are you like, a gymnast?” Sam asked the boy, for he was much to agile.

“Er, yeah.” Peter said awkwardly, “I’m trying to get into the Olympics.”

Something in the boy’s eyes told Sam that this was not the truth, but all the facts lined up, so Sam placed it in the back of his mind, resolving to bring it up later.

Martha and Sarah Jane were being pulled up just as red made it over. Sam watched as Natasha took two running steps then, using Neville as a step, volted over the wall, pulling much of the team with her.

The blue team was already at the end of the sprint, holding the note.

“Come on, it’s us or them!” Ron called as they got off the wall, sprinting as in-step with each other as they could. Red made it off the wall just behind them.

Red made it over the line just steps behind they did, but the green team had still made it first.

“We did it!” Biff laughed cruelly, “We beat you, you pathetic –”  
“Will you shut up?” Martha was staring at the man.

_ “Excuse me?” _

“You did absolutely nothing to help.” 

Biff growled, but didn’t say anything more.

Then, thunder rumbled.

There was a strike of lightning and John was screaming, tears spilling down his face.

“Sherlock!” 

Where Sherlock had once stood, there was a circular symbol. Sam had never come across it in his life. It looked neither angelic nor demonic. The look in Cas’s eyes told him that Cas hadn’t ever seen it before either.

“What’s the note say?” 

“ _ Return to your camp.”  _ The Doctor read, “ _ And prepare for the morning.” _


	8. Under the Sea

Hermione Granger

* * *

 

Hermione and the rest of the red team made their way back to their camp. John looked unnaturally distraught, Neville looked pretty upset as well, but no one else seemed to mind all that much. Sherlock was irritating to say the least. Always insulting people on their stupidity and sauntering around like he owned the place.

“We should get some sleep.” Steve said.

“I’m eating something first.” Professor Hobbes declared. “I’m starving.”  
“What I want to know,” Mickey said as he pulled out some rations he had found on the ship before it seemingly disappeared from the beach, “Is how this thing is choosing people to pick off.”  
“Well, what’s a similarity between Val Cane and Sherlock,” Natasha said, as if it was obvious, “They both were pissing me off.”  
“You think that’s how they are being chosen?” Castiel asked, “Those who anger you?”

“I’ll bet you anything it’s getting into our heads and choosing who the team likes the least.” River Song said, “It’s like a vote, but without all the mess. I think that if we concentrate on a specific member of the team, it’ll be accepted like votes.”

“What d’you think’s going to be there in the morning?” Professor Hobbes asked, “Perhaps some intellectual challenges?” He said hopefully.  
“Well, it’s all been physical, so I doubt it.” Natasha said, the man’s hope dropped.  
“Well, I’m going to bed.” Hermione said determinedly, not wanting to wait around with the rest of them. She’d hear the best information when people thought she wasn’t listening.

But the conversations died down as more and more people went to bed, and she heard nothing of interest. Just as she was about to doze off, she heard a hiss from the forest.

“ _ John.” _ John began walking over there. Once he was far enough in, Hermione, Natasha, Castiel, and River Song all got up. Clearly she wasn’t the only mistrustful person here.

“Hey Molly.” John said, approaching the young woman.

“How are you holding up?”  
“I’m fine.”   
“No you’re not.”

“No, I’m not.” 

There was a pause between them.

“He would want us to be strong.” Molly said, “You know Sherlock, he wouldn’t want you to give up.”  
John laughed sadly.  
“I can just hear him, _‘John, stop moping about, I can barely hear myself think.’”_

Molly laughed, tears dripping from her face.

“Well, I better get back to my camp. Wouldn’t want anyone waking up to find me missing.”  
With that, Hermione noticed Natasha, River Song, and Castiel slink away, she turned to leave as well, not wanting to be caught by John.  
“Stay strong, John.” Molly said, and John began making his way back.  
Hermione was just barely lying down again when John returned.

He cried all night.

The next morning, Hermione woke up to the largest crash of thunder she’d ever heard in her life. She looked around to find that River Song, Natasha, and Castiel were already awake. Had they just not slept? 

Professor Hobbes groaned, standing up and complaining loudly. Neville had been shocked and nearly fell off his makeshift bed. Mickey had shot up as quickly as possible, looking much like a soldier. John got up rather easily, clearly he wasn’t unused to waking up at random times. Hermione made her way over.

She couldn’t help but notice how closely River Song, Natasha, and Castiel were standing. Had they allied with each other?

“Come on, that must be our sign to head out.” Mickey said.

The group departed and Hermione observed the people around her. River Song, Natasha, Castiel, and Steve stood suspiciously close together, whispering in hushed tones. John was moping on his own, trailing behind the group. Neville stuck by Hermione, and Mickey made his way over as well, leaving Professor Hobbes on his own.

“Hey Hermione.”  
“Hey.”  
“I don’t mean to be blunt or anything,” He whispered to her, “But to me, it looks like they’re making an alliance.” He gestured to River Song, Natasha, Castiel, and Steve. Hermione nodded.

“I agree.”  
“I was wondering – er – if you’d maybe like to be in an alliance with me, just to keep us safe from them.”

“Yeah, sure – Hey Neville!” Hermione gestured for Neville to join them, “What d’you say? The three of us?”  
“To the end.” Mickey smiled and they turned back to the trail that was ending as they returned to the beach.

When all three teams were gathered at the beach, There were three chests sitting a few feet from one another, each colour-coded for each team and with ten key-holes. Peter Parker pulled something from the sand. “I found a note!”

“What’s it say?” Sarah Jane inquired.

“It says, ‘ _ There are ten keys on the ocean floor. For today’s challenge, your teams must organize in relay formation and one at a time search for these keys. Red must have one member go twice. You cannot return to your team until you have a key. Once you have gathered all ten, you must go to your locked chests and unlock them using all ten of the keys. You will be alerted as to when to go.’” _

“Right,” Natasha said, quickly assuming leader, “We need strongest in the front and back.” There was a murmur of agreement. “The order should go: Me, Rogers, River, Neville, Castiel, Granger, Hobbes, Watson, Smith, and then I’ll go again to recover whatever time we’ve lost.”

“Brilliant.” Hermione murmured, standing in her place in line. It didn’t pass her that she was in the middle, right where all the weakest swimmers were.

“Come on,” Steve said, “We’ve got to shed some layers, we’ll drown with all this dragging us down.”

Hermione removed her tracksuit, revealing her in a red sports bra and spandex that worked well enough as a swimsuit. She looked around, the other teams had done the same thing and all had the same thing underneath, the other teams with different colours and the men without the sports bras. She cast a gaze around at her team. Steve. Damn! He was muscular beyond imagination. She looked to Neville only to find a gorgeous body looking back at her. He was ripped and clearly uncomfortable as he seemed to be fidgeting and moving his arms in front of his body. To be honest, the only ones who didn’t seem to have perfect bodies were John and Professor Hobbes, both on the older side, though John seemed to be at a healthy weight, thin and trim, clearly he exercised regularly, just not necessarily heavy-weight lifting. Whereas Professor Hobbes looked to have never lifted a weight in his life.

She looked around to the other teams, she couldn’t help but notice Captain Jack Harkness casting a hungry gaze around, checking out the members of each team. His gaze fell on Hermione, he sent her a seductive wink and she felt herself turning red so she turned around to avoid his gaze.

Each team stood in line, waiting for the sign that they could begin. There was suddenly a loud clap of thunder and the first of each team sprinted into the water. Natasha for the red team, the Doctor for the blue, and Sam for green. 

The Doctor was the first to find a key, quickly followed by Natasha, then Sam. Natasha sprinted back across the water, then flying across the sand and tagging Steve, who sprinted even faster, if that was possible, into the water, pulling ahead of Jethro from the blue team who was being passed by a shockingly speedy Peter.

The first one out of the water was Peter, nearly on top of the water, he was so fast. Steve came next, and Jethro was surprisingly not that far behind.

Steve tagged River and she sprinted to the water. Dean was next for the blue team and Harry for the green. River, with her keen eyes, found a key first, sprinting back and tagging Neville before Dean or Harry had even found their keys. 

Neville was in the water, just as Dean made his way out, tagging Dee Dee, Harry following seven or eight paces behind him, tagging Peter Quill.

Neville was the first out, nearly tripping over himself to get to Cas, who sprinted into the water. To be honest, Hermione wasn’t sure if he could swim at all, he waded timidly into the water staying where he could touch in order to scout out in the clear water. He then dove down, resurfaced, gasping for breath, before reentering the water where Molly was running out of. Biff had just entered the water for the green team. 

Finally, Castiel emerged from the water victoriously, a key clutched in his hand, hurrying out of the water he tagged Hermione, who sprinted across the hot sand and into the water. The water was cold, but it felt refreshing in the hot sun. She dove down, her eyes stinging with the salt. She dove down further, letting her hands run across the rocks and through the plants. She pushed off the bottom, sending her back to the top for air before diving back down again. Luna was in the water now, and Biff was still there for the green team having not found a key yet. As her hands brushed across the rocks, long smoothed over by the waves, she found something sticking out. Grabbing it with one hand, she pushed herself off the ocean floor, shooting up to the surface, key in one hand and swam as fast as she could back to shore, tagging Professor Hobbes, who hurried into the water.

Natasha was back in the back of the line with John and Mickey, waiting for her turn again, Castiel, River, Neville, and Steve were already shoving keys into locks, there were only three more to go.

Luna was out of the water for the blue team now and Wilfred was hurrying through the water now, and Biff was still searching, the green team was shouting at him. Wilfred was a shockingly good swimmer, easily obtaining a key and returning to tag Donna just as Professor Hobbes tagged John, who sprinted to the water. Hermione couldn’t help but notice he was limping quite heavily in his right leg. Hermione had been noticing it since Sherlock was struck.

Donna and John burst out of the water, side by side, Donna pulling ahead because of John’s limp, each tagging the next member, Mickey for John and George for Donna.

Biff had finally found a key and was walking back to the rest of the team, tagging Mantis, who sprinted into the water looking hopeless.

George came sprinting out of the water, Mickey right behind. They both tagged their final member as Mantis made it back to her team in impressive speed to tag Sarah Jane. Jenny and Natasha both took off, sprinting to the water, Natasha easily pulling ahead and diving skillfully into the water. 

The beach went quiet, they waited for who would resurface first. A hand burst out of the water and Natasha ran forwards, Jenny on her tail, launching herself at the chest and ramming the final key into the lock.

Sarah Jane emerged from the water in defeat as thunder rumbled angrily and, with a bright flash of lightning, where Biff once stood were the markings, burnt into the sand.

The beach was silent. “Come on.” Jack Harkness said, and the green team retreated back into the forest.


	9. A Hunting Trip

Martha Jones

* * *

 

Martha and the rest of the green team returned to their camp, sore from their loss. Biff may have been a hindrance to the team, but he was still a person. 

“We need to find something to eat.” Sam said finally, breaking the silence. They were already running low on the rations they had scavenged from the ship.

“Hey, Mr. Sam, sir,” Peter said awkwardly, “Didn’t you say you hunt monsters and stuff?”

“Yeah?” Sam said, “Why kid?”

“Er, I’m not a kid, but if you can hunt monsters, can’t you also hunt like, animals and stuff?”

“Yeah, I’m sure I could figure it out. Why don’t we head out and do that, you wanna come?”

“What? Me? Uh, sure!” Peter jumped up excitedly.

“Anyone else want to come?” Sam asked, casting his eyes across the team. 

“I’ll come.” Star-Lord said, stepping up.

“Me too.” Martha said.

“I’ll get the fire up and going again.” Sarah Jane suggested.

“I will collect the water for drinking.” Mantis smiled brightly.

“Harry, Ron, why don’t you help me with repairs on the shelter.” Jack said, “I think it was leaking last night.” The two wizards nodded.

Sam, Peter, Star-Lord, and Martha all made their way into the forest, it was getting dark and they all hoped some nocturnal animal would be roaming about.

“Maybe we should split up.” Peter said anxiously, “Cover more ground, stealthier, you know.”

Martha narrowed her eyes at the boy. He was…strange. He claimed to be a normal teenage boy, but he wasn’t right. He was much too fast, to agile. He claimed to be a gymnast, but Martha, with her extensive training, had learnt to spot a liar. He had been much too anxious, pulling his body inwards, he had been sweating, he would cover his mouth with his hands and chew on his lip. It was blatantly obvious for anyone who had ever learned to detect liars.

She noticed Sam looking skeptically at the boy as well.

Peter looked anxiously around him. “Er, I’m just going to go over this way.” Peter sprinted further into the forest.

“I’ll go after him.” Martha said, “But he was right, we should split up.” She took off after the boy.

After a solid hour of sprinting through the forest, Martha finally conceded that the boy had lost her.

“Come on, kid” She sighed.

“I’m not a kid.” Martha nearly jumped a foot in the air as a voice came from above her in the trees. She looked up, only to find Peter, in the branches of a large tree, suspended elegantly and skillfully. It seemed within his element.

“What the – Peter.” Martha said in exasperation. “Have you been following me?”  
“No…”  
“Liar.”

“I’ve not been following you long, I swear.” Peter said defensively. “I just – I found this crane, right –”  
“You found a crane!”  
“Yeah…”  
“But…?”

“I can’t kill it, Martha!” Peter cried out.

“Peter, we need to eat!”

“But…But Martha…I already named her…”

“Peter…”

“I won’t do it. I refuse.”

“Listen, Peter –”  
“Shh!”

“Peter! This is –”  
“No, I mean it,” Peter hissed, “Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

Peter started walking stealthily through the forest, signaling for Martha to follow and to stay silent.

It was only after they’d walked a solid thirty meters before Martha heard voices.

“– But since my last craft was destroyed, I had to make a new ship out of the parts.”  
“And did you?”  
“Er, sort of. It was good enough to get me off Sufflun 59, but barely made it through the atmosphere of Tesli 8.47219.”  
“That’s junk planets for you.” 

“Doctor?” Martha managed to unfreeze herself.  
“Martha?” The Doctor turned away from his daughter.   
“Hey.” The Doctor and Martha embraced.

“What’re you doing up so late.”  
“Doctor, it’s only –”

“23:45, yes I know Martha.” Martha paused. She had forgotten the ‘time’ part of the ‘Time Lord.’  
“We were looking for something to eat.” Martha explained.

“We?” The Doctor spotted Peter, hidden in a tree.

“Ah, Peter, you must have some pretty sticky fingers to get up there.” The Doctor grinned knowingly at Peter, who froze, wide-eyed.

“I’m going back to the camp.” Peter cried, dropping to the ground surprisingly gracefully and sprinting away with incredible speed.

“Do  _ you  _ know his deal?” Martha asked suspiciously.

“I know nothing.” The Doctor grinned. It was the kind of grin he made when he was lying. “Anyway, we’ve got plenty of food if you need some.”

Martha found herself walking back to the camp with a basket of food. She looked around, expecting to find an empty camp at such a late hour, yet found Peter. He was sitting on his own in a curled ball. 

“Peter?” But the boy didn’t seem to hear her. It was now that she realized that he was shaking. “Peter, what’s wrong?” She sat down next to him. “Peter, hey, can you hear me?” Her medical training kicked in. He was shaking, beads of sweat rolled down his face, and he was hyperventilating. He was having an anxiety attack. She placed a hand on his, looking directly in his eyes, “Peter, hey Peter, do you think you can breathe with me?” Peter looked up, shaking his head frantically. “It’s okay, Peter, here –” She took his hand and placed it on her chest. “Do you feel that?” Peter nodded. “Okay, just breathe with me. In and out. In and out.”

It took a while, but Peter finally began calming down. The adrenaline that had been filling his body dissipated and his shoulders slumped with exhaustion.

“You feeling all right now?” Peter nodded mutely. “You want to relax here a bit?” She offered, “You don’t have to, but if you want, you can tell me what’s wrong.”

Peter relaxed into Martha’s lap. His breathing grew slower and steadier until he slipped into a peaceful sleep. Martha looked down at the sleeping teen on her lap. To be honest, he was adorable. She closed her own eyes, laying her body against the trunk of the tree they were under, wondering what secrets this seemingly normal boy held.


	10. A Far Way to Fall

Mickey Smith

* * *

 

Mickey made his way back to camp after an unsuccessful morning fishing trip.

“Got anything?” Hermione inquired as he sat down next to her in front of the fire.

“Nothing.”

“Hey guys!” Neville towards them from the woods where he’d been jogging. “I found something!” 

Once the team had gathered together, Neville opened up the small package.

“It’s a map.” River picked it up, “Leading to…” She pointed at a large cliff that dropped into the water. “The top of there.”

“Then let’s get going.”

All three teams met up at the top of the cliff. There was an anxiety that hung in the air. Sam and Dean walked together and picked up a large box that sat on the edge. Sam read out:

“ _ Daring is something that should be valued in life, and now that virtue is to be tested. You must jump from the cliff top. Each team must send each member one at a time down. They will land in the water and must find a token in the water. Once they touch the water, the next teammate may go, but only one may search for token, and the first must return to shore, so plan strategically. Only once the token is found can the rest of the team jump as one and reach the shore with their token. The last team to retrieve their token will lose a member, but gain the reward said token comes with.” _

“All right, this seems way too easy, something’s up.” Dean said at once. 

“Why are we even listening to this thing anyway?” Sam asked, “No one has once questioned it. Why? Why are we playing along.”

There was a bolt of lightning that flew from the sky and struck only feet from where they stood. 

“Because of that, I expect…” Ron said. But Mickey noticed the Doctor give the sky a skeptical look.

“Because it doesn’t want us to…” 

Eight more bolts of lightning struck, each one closer than the next.  
“Just stop talking about it!” Dee Dee cried.

“Come on, let’s just do the challenge.” Hermione said hopefully. The Doctor nodded, but continued to glare scathingly at the sky.

“We need to strategize.” Sarah Jane said reasonably.

“All right, ten minutes to strategize, then we start.” Sam agreed.

“Unless I am mistaken, the more skilled searchers should go first, should they not?” Castiel asked. River Song smiled.

“I think I agree with Cassie here –” 

“Don’t call me that.” Castiel said.

“Who here’s got experience diving?” Mickey asked, trying to get this done within the time restraint.

“I do not believe that I am capable of swimming.” Castiel said awkwardly.

“You can’t swim?” Steve said in disbelief,

“Well, angels are not usually dependant oxygen to survive, and therefore the process of education on the ability to swim would be both impractical and without purpose. But now that I am without my angelic abilities, I sincerely doubt that I would be able to survive without, although I have yet to test that feature in my system.”

“We’ll send someone immediately after you to make sure you get out, okay?”

“That solution should suffice acceptably, yes.”

“I’ll go first.” River Song said confidently.

“Hermione, why don’t you go next.” Steve suggested.

“Okay.” Hermione seemed a bit nervous about the whole idea.

“Natasha, you should be at the end. Worst case scenario, we’ll have someone strong for the end.” Natasha nodded at the acceptable position.

“Rogers, you’re after Granger.” Natasha said, having already figured out their best possible solution. “Then will come Neville, then Watson, Hobbes, and Castiel.” Mickey looked curiously at the woman, he noticed that the only person she called by their first name was Neville, it felt strangely like a respect thing. “Smith!” Mickey snapped to attention. “It’s your job to pull Castiel out of the water. Don’t bother searching, you need to make sure he’s to shore, I’ll go after you.”

“Right,” Mickey tried to force out a confident smile, “let’s do this.”

River Song was first up for the red team, Peter Parker for the green, and Jenny for the blue.

All three teams gathered along the edge of the cliff, River, Peter, and Jenny in the center.

A clap of thunder sounded and River, without hesitation dove down. Jenny also did not hesitate, and dove down at her side. Peter hesitated, but followed suit.

The surface tension looked painful as they each hit the water, but Jenny and River had nice enough form that it didn’t look bad. Peter, on the other hand, hit he water painfully, but seemed unphased by it and began his search.

It didn’t take long for Peter to gesture for the next member of his team to dive down. Sam nodded, jumping feet first.

River was next, gesturing for Hermione, who jumped down with only a short hesitation.

It took Jenny much longer to give up. By the time she did, Hermione had already signaled for Steve to replace her. Jenny finally gave the gesture, and Dean joined his brother, Sam, in the water.

The water churned and made it hard to see what was beneath it, and no one knew how big this ‘token’ was anyway.

Sam signaled, and Captain Jack replaced him. 

Dean and Hermione searched a while longer until the screaming of their teams finally got them both to give the signal; Neville going in for red and George for blue.

Only a few minutes later, George’s arm emerged triumphantly from the water. Clenched in his hand was a small golden arcade token. Jethro, Molly, Luna, Dee Dee, Donna, Wilf, and the Doctor all ran for the edge, jumping off and into the water, making their way to shore to secure first place.

This seemed to get Neville to signal to John and Jack for Star-Lord.

“At least we know what we’re looking for now.” Mickey said, trying to stay optimistic.

John signaled to Professor Hobbes long before Star-Lord signaled to Martha. 

Professor Hobbes hesitated at the top. “I don’t know if I –” Natasha pushed him off the cliff.

“You didn’t have to do that.” Mickey said.

“It was unnecessary, yet effective and efficient.” Castiel said.

Professor Hobbes hit the water painfully and swam as fast as he could to the shore. Natasha sighed, “You’re up, Cassie.” And before Castiel could protest about the nickname, he was thrust down off the cliff. Mickey braced himself, ready to jump the moment he hit the water. 

Castiel hit, and Mickey jumped. He fell down, down. He tried to hit as aerodynamically as possible, but he hit the water painfully, the surface tension stinging his back. He looked around, Castiel had already gone under. Mickey dove down, looking desperately for the man.

He felt a splash of water hit him, Martha must have made her way into the water. She dove down only a few feet from him and emerged with – “Castiel!”

Martha and Mickey each grabbed Castiel and dragged him out of the water, coughing and choking.

Natasha and Harry dove in after them as they reached the shore.

Martha turned Castiel on his side as he expelled the water from his lungs, Sam and Dean raced over.

“Cas!” 

“Dean?” Castiel coughed.

“Hey Cas, you’re okay.” Sam said, but Castiel’s eyes were still locked on Dean.

“Dude, we have got to teach you how to swim.”

“If we manage to return home, it is unlikely that swimming with be a necessary skill to have learned, for with the return of my angelic abilities –”  
“Dammit Cas! What if you lose them again, huh?”

“I do not think –”  
“I don’t care what you think. You are learning how to swim and that’s final.” Dean cut across.

“I suppose the skillset could be of use if –”

“I got it!”

Mickey hadn’t even noticed Harry return to shore and Ron take his place, but Ron was racing to the shore, making it to his feet just as Natasha began to race over, but Ron had too much of a head start.

_ “Your reward shall be waiting for you at your camps.”  _ The voice said. There was a clap of thunder, and a flash of lightning, and where Professor Hobbes once stood, was a symbol.

“Could’ve been worse.” Natasha strode out, “Come on.”

The rest of the team hesitated, exchanging a look, then followed in silence.

They walked back to the camp, the adrenaline from before now wearing off, yet still anxiously awaiting their reward.

Natasha was the first one to emerge from the forest. She froze.

“Barton?”


	11. Team Exploration

“Ginny?”

The girl was standing in confusion, facing the water. She was about 5’6, with bright brown eyes and flaming red hair.

“Ron!” Ginny flung her arms around her brother. “Harry!” 

“Ginny!” Harry and Ginny kissed.

“You must be our reward.” Harry said happily, then his face fell, “But you shouldn’t be here, you’re in danger!”

“What’s even going on?” Ginny looked around in desperate confusion.

“What’s the last thing you remember?” Sam asked.

“Going to bed last night, why? Where are we?”

“We don’t know.” Martha said, “But we’re going to find out and find a way to get off.”

“This thing in the sky, it’s been making us do these challenges. The losing team loses a member.”

“Team?”

“We’re green.” Sarah Jane explained. “There’s also blue and red.”

“Hermione’s here!” Ron said, “And so is George and Luna.”

“Who even are all of you?” Ginny asked, looking from face to unfamiliar face, freezing on Mantis.

“I am Mantis.” Mantis smiled.

“She’s an alien!” Ron cried in excitement, as she was the first alien he’d ever met. “And this is Jack, he’s like, immortal and ancient!” Jack winked at Ginny,

“Nice to meet you.”

“And this is Star-Lord, he’s like –”

“Legendary Outlaw Space-Pirate.” Star-Lord grinned.

“And I’m Martha,” Martha shook Ginny’s hand, “Normal human.”

“Sarah Jane Smith.” Sarah Jane smiled kindly.

“Sam Winchester.” Ginny looked up and down Sam, impressed. Harry cleared his throat.

“Er – I’m Peter.” Peter said awkwardly. “Normal kid. Really normal. Live in Queens. In New York, I mean, Queens is in New York, but you probably already knew that…” Peter shut his mouth.

“Nice to meet you.” Ginny said, amused.

“So, if you’re our reward, the other teams must have someone too.” Sam reasoned. “I don’t know about you, but I’m going to try to find that out.”

“I know where the blue camp is.” Peter said helpfully, then looked at a frustrated Martha looking pointedly at him. “Sorry…”

“I’ll come with you.” Ron said, “Ginny, you should come too, I’ll point out who everyone is.”

“Okay.”

“Stay safe.” Martha said.

They made their way into the forest, Peter leading the way, Ron and Ginny in the back. Ginny was asking every question that came to mind: What’s in the sky? You’ve not been missing, how did you get here first? Where do the lost people go? How long until the next challenge? Where did our wands go? Who was that space pirate?

Ron did his best to answer her questions, but to be honest, he didn’t know most of the answers himself.

They arrived at the blue camp, how Peter had found it the first time, he didn’t know. They peered through the trees silently. 

“So, that’s Donna, Wilfred, Molly, and Jethro,” Peter pointed out the four figures sitting around the fire. “And that’s the Doctor and Jenny,” He pointed towards the two of them, laying under the stars and pointing out each one. “That’s Harry, Luna, and George,” He pointed out the three of them, skipping rocks into the ocean. “And that’s Dean and – er – she must be the new one.”

“This was not what I’d been expecting when I got involved with you two.” The new girl was saying.

“Listen Charlie, I have no clue how we got here, or why we’re here, or any of that. Only that we are here, and we’ve got to figure out how to get off it.” Dean responded.

“Where’s Sam?”

“He’s on a different team. So is Cas.”

“Castiel is here?” 

“Yeah, about time you two meet. He’s on red, Sam’s on green.”

“So this is like a video game, yeah? We’ve gotta be the last one standing.”

“I hope not.”

Sam looked at Peter, Ron, and Ginny. “I’ve got to –”

“No, Sam, you can’t let them know we’re spying on them.” Ginny said. Sam gave her a strange look.

“Why not?”

“I dunno, it’s just a feeling. I –”

“Sammy, man, you know you can’t hide for crap from me. Get your ass over here.”

Sam gave Ginny a look of apology and made his way over to Dean and Charlie.

“Hey Charlie.”

“Sup.”

“So, what’s happening?”

“I’m really glad you’re here man,” Dean said, “We’re about to head over to red. You know who they got yet?” 

“No, not yet. We’ve got another witch.”

“Have you found any hex bags, anything?”

“No.”

“Yeah, me neither.”

“Hey, maybe they’re telling the truth. Maybe they don’t do that kind of stuff.”

“Seriously?”

“Well, I mean it. We’ve got no reason to –"

“They’re witches man. How many good witches do you know?”

“Look, I trust them.”

“Well, don’t. Now, you coming?”

“Yeah, we’ll come with you.”

“We?”

Ron, Ginny, and Peter awkwardly waved from the forest.

“You brought them? Sam, what the hell –”

“Look, I told you, I trust them.”

“Fine. Whatever. But I’m keeping both eye on you.” Dean’s eyes locked onto Ron and Ginny.

Charlie, Sam, Ron, Ginny, and Peter all followed Dean through the forest towards the red camp.

“How do you even know where the red camp is?” Sam asked as they walked.

“How do you know where our camp is?”

“Dean.”

“Okay, okay. So that Doctor guy, he’s got allies everywhere. He knows where all the camps are.”

“So, what’re you thinking?”

“I would say angel, but Cas would recognize him.”

“Demon, then?”

“Nah, didn’t respond to  _ Christo. _ ”

“You tried?”

“Of course I tried.” Dean gave an offronted look. “No one as far as I could tell.”

“Well, that’s something.”

“What are they talking about?” Ginny asked Ron quietly towards the back.

“I dunno,” Ron said, “Don’t think too hard on it, everyone here is completely mental.”

The red team was a little more intense than the green or blue. 

“That’s Natasha,” Peter pointed towards the deadly woman. Charlie smiled, 

“Nice.”

“Be careful, she will kill you.” Dean warned.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“That’s River Song,” 

“She will also kill you.”

“And that’s the new one.” Natasha, River Song, and a new man all stood together.

“And then that’s Hermione and Neville.” They sat together near the edge of the forest a little ways down. “And that’s Steve.” He pointed to a man, sitting alone by the water. “That’s John.” John sat alone, curled up by the fire. “And that’s Mickey.” Mickey sat alone as well. “And that’s Castiel.” Castiel seemed to be praying. 

“Is he religious?” Ginny asked.

“An angel of the lord.” Dean responded with a smirk.

The group made their way to the green camp. “There’s Mantis, Star-Lord, and Captain Jack.” He pointed to another group, “That’s Martha and Sarah Jane.” He turned back, “And then there’s me, Sam, Ginny, and Ron."

“Come on, we better get back to our camp.” Dean said, Charlie nodded. 

“Later bitches.” She gave a wink to Ginny, who turned pink. Ron gave a glare, but Ginny called back:

“Later!”


	12. Prison Break

Dean Winchester

* * *

“Hey, Dean!” Dean turned only to see Charlie waving a piece of parchment paper at him. “What’s this?”

“That’s that thing in the sky.” George said, making his way over, the rest of the team only a step behind. “What’s the note say?”

“‘ _ Good luck escaping. Last team out loses a member. _ ’” Charlie looked up, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Dean suddenly felt a prick in the back of his neck, but before he could coordinate his now-heavy limbs, his body hit the ground and his vision went dark.

Dean woke up chained to the wall. Wouldn’t be the first time. It was dark.  _ Really  _ dark. Not complete darkness, but he could see very little. The first thing he noticed was that there were no windows and no doors. He couldn’t actually see an exit at all. But he could breathe, which meant there had to be a ventilation shaft somewhere… All right, chains first, vent later. 

The chains felt old, rusty, it wouldn’t hold long. So he began to smash it against the walls. Over and over again. He felt them chip until finally, it split. Now to get to work on his legs. 

Through the vent, Dean could hear the voices of other competitors, trying to break their own chains, and the crying out for help and advice for those less experienced.

Dean dropped down from the wall and hoisted himself up, punching through the vent and pulling himself up. 

Inside the vent, there was complete darkness. The only way he could tell what was in front of him was to keep his hands out. It was just like a maze. It zigzagged in endless pathways until he found himself falling out of another vent. He looked up, 

“Hey.” Molly was hanging on the wall, still trying to break out.

Dean gave a nod of greeting and got to work on her chains.

“So, uh, it looks like you’ve done this before…”

“Yeah.”

“Okay…?”

Dean pulled her down and hoisted her up into the vent.

“It’s impossible to see anything up here.”

“Yeah, I know, now move.”

“How did you learn all that?”

“A lot of experience.”

“Oh, so this is all about that hunting monsters thing?”

“What’s it to you?”

“It’s just, it seems intense, what you do.”

“It is.”

“It’s just, where did you learn all this stuff?”

“My dad taught it to me.”

“Your dad? He taught you how to escape being chained to the wall?”

“Yeah, except when we did that, we were blindfolded and there were a lot more than chains holding us.”

“How could he do that?”

“Do what?”

“Lock you up like that?”

“It was to train us. To prepare us.”

“Dean, I –” Molly fell out of a vent and into another cell. Dean climbed down and helped her up. They looked at the wall. The chains were missing, it looked as if they had been ripped out of the wall. The amount of strength to do that would have been insane.

“Who do you think did this?”

“I dunno.” Dean said. “I’m thinkin’ that someone here’s a demon…”

“A demon?” Molly sounded terrified.

“Maybe. Or it could be a Vamp or a Shapeshifter…”

“How many things like that are out there?”

“Too damn many, now let’s get a move on.”

Dean and Molly climbed back up, as they continued through the vent, they could see it getting lighter and lighter.

A fist punched through a vent right in front of them, nearly hitting Dean in the face.

“What the hell man?”

“Sorry, Dean!” Ginny crawled out behind him and Molly.

“Didn’t expect to see you out so soon.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, you’re not exactly the type of girl I’d expect to –”

“– to be able to break out on her own?”

“Yeah.” Dean laughed.

“Well I’m a little more capable than you seem to think.”

“Clearly.” Ginny couldn’t see it through the dark, but Dean was giving her a seductive grin.

“Come on, we’re almost there,” Molly said, “It’s getting lighter.”  
They continued to climb through the vents until Dean found the opening, and jumped to the ground. Molly hesitated, it was probably a two in a half to three meter drop.

“Come on.” Dean encouraged.

“It’s just really far…” 

“I’ll catch you, come on.”

She continued to cling to the top.

“Come on, one… two… three!” She jumped, landing in Dean’s arms.

“Not the first girl you’ve caught, then?” She was blushing.

“No, you are not.”

Ginny landed heavily on her right side. She looked to have bruised it a bit, but nothing seemed broken.

Dean looked around. It seemed that the Doctor, Jenny, Sam, River Song, Natasha, the new guy from the red team, and Peter. Peter. Peter stood there, shackles still around his wrists and ankles, as of they’d been ripped off of the wall…

“What the hell are you?” Dean grabbed the boy and shoved him against a tree. 

“What? What do you mean? I’m no one!” 

“Like hell you are! What are you? Demon? A Vamp? Shapeshifter? Rugaru? Shtriga? Rakshasa? Changeling?”

“I don’t even know what those are?”

“Dean! What do you think you’re doing?” The Doctor pulled Dean off of Peter.

“He’s a monster!”

“He’s a kid!”

“ _I’m not a kid…_ ”

“We need to kill it!”

“We’re not killing anything!”

“Dean, he’s just a kid, chill out, man.” Sam said, grabbing Dean’s shoulder.

“Look at him, Sam!” Dean gestured towards the kid, “He ripped those shackles off the walls? What the hell kinda human does that?”

Star-Lord, Martha, George, Steve, and Cas fell out of the ventilation system.

“Please, I can explain!” Peter cried out.

“Then you better do so pretty damn quickly, ‘cause I shoot first and ask questions later.”

“Just, somewhere private.”  
“Fine.”

Peter made his way into the woods, Dean right behind him. They went further and further in until there was no possible way they were in anyone’s earshot. Suddenly, a foot slammed into the side of Dean’s head and the world went black.


	13. Teachings of the Non-Biblical Kind

Castiel

* * *

After a lengthy period of time, Castiel was increasingly perturbed that Dean had not yet returned from his consultation with Peter Parker. It was not a prolonged period of time before Sarah Jane Smith, Captain Jack Harkness, Jethro Cane, Charlie Bradberry, and Neville Longbottom emerged from the ventilation system. Just as they were recuperating from their fall out of said ventilation system, Peter Parker leisurely promenaded from the woods.

“Where is Dean?” Castiel inquired investigatively.

“He, uh, he wanted to take a walk to clear his head.”

“He did?” Sam appeared equivocal of such a proposition.

“I think I will go and check on Dean.” Castiel announced, making his way into the woods in the direction that Peter Parker and Dean went in. It was silent. “Dean?” Continued silence. “Dean!”

It was approximately fifty meters before he came upon Dean. He was unconscious upon the juncture of arrival.

Castiel gathered the human within his arms and carried him back towards the site.

“Dean!” Sam rushed to his brothers side.

“He should be fine, just temporarily unconscious.”

Martha Jones hurried to them just as Dean awoke. “Son of a bitch.” Martha Jones examined Dean, checking his pupils for dilation as a possible indication of a concussion.

“You’re fine, no concussion.” Martha John gave a sigh of relief. It was only at this time that Castiel observed the fact that Ronald Weasley, Harry Potter, Donna Noble, Luna Lovegood, John Watson, and Mickey Smith had managed to liberate themselves from the ventilation system.

There were now only three people remaining to emerge from the system of ventilation: Mantis, Wilfred Mott, and Hermione Granger.

A figure emerged.

“Mantis!”

A celebratory cheer emitted from the green team as they completed their task in the primary position.

The tensions between the blue and red teams seemed substantially elevated as they awaited for the concluding pronouncement.

The terminal decision came to pass when Hermione Granger dropped down, landing painfully on the left side of her body. Wilfred Mott ensued behind her.

Another cheer emitted from the red team, Castiel exerted a smile of achievement, but his concern multiplied as the realization dawned upon him that the losing team contained the soul of one, Dean Winchester.

Castiel braced himself as thunder reverberated throughout the island and the lightning flash emanated light.

As it diminished, Castiel observed the place where the missing human once stood.

“Molly!” John Watson seemed to erupt with indignation. He struck the tree he was beneath with his fist.

“Come on, let’s just get back to camp.” Steve Rogers proposed.

“Yes, we should return.” Castiel agreed, and so forth Steve Rogers led Castiel, Neville Longbottom, River Song, Natasha Romanoff, John Watson, Hermione Granger, Clint Barton, and Mickey Smith back to their camp.

“We’ve got to figure out how they’re picking people off.” Hermione Granger determined.

“Perhaps my Father is to do with this.” Castiel pondered introspectively,

“What the hell might your dad have to do with anything?” John Watson postulated indignantly.

“What has you so perturbed?” Castiel inquired in scrutiny.

“I’m not sure if you noticed,” John Watson bellowed with profound force, “But all my friends are dead!”

“And I’m not sure if _you’ve_ noticed, but if we don’t work together, we could _all_ die!” Hermione Granger vociferated at an escalated tone.

“Come on,” Steve Rogers countered sensibly, “We need to get to work, the shelter’s been leaking, Nat, Clint, can you –"

“We’ll go find something to eat.” Natasha Romanoff interrupted.

“Okay, “Steve Rogers sighed in exasperation, “Nat and Clint, you go find food. Neville, Mickey, and I will work on the shelter, John and Castiel, you two need to get the fire going again. River and Hermione, you two get some water boiled.”

Castiel followed John Watson to the fire. John Watson methodically initiated the fire.

The camp remained wordless as John Watson brooded.

“I think we were right the first time,” Neville Longbottom ultimately determined, “I think it’s picking off people who are least liked, I mean, don’t get me wrong, John; people loved Molly, but the others were so close.”

“I agree.” Castiel nodded, “I believe this is the case.”

“Then the real question,” Natasha Romanoff said intelligently, “Is who’s next?”

“Well, we’ll start with blue,” River Song advised, “Who’s on blue? There’s the Doctor, Jenny, Donna –”

“Dean.” Castiel contributed.

“Yes, Dean, the new girl – Charlie, isn’t it?”

“Wilf and Jethro.” Mickey Smith said.

“Harry, Luna, and George.” Hermione Granger said.

“And I think that’s it,” River Song said, “So, who’s next do you think?”

“The older one, maybe, Wilfred?” Clint Barton propounded.

“Nah, Wilfred’s magnetic.” Mickey Smith said.

“George?”

“No, he’s actually really nice.”

“Donna?”

“That’s possible.”

Castiel, disinterested in the symposium, made his way into the forest. It was tranquil and pastoral. It reminded the angel of the older days, when humans were young and untamed.

He perambulated the forest for hours, inattentively strolling. He soon discovered himself seated upon a length of a fallen tree.

“Hey, man.” Young Peter Parker dropped from the tree overhead.

“Hello, Peter.”

“Hey, Castiel, right?”

“Yes.”

“I’m Peter – I mean, you already know that, but, um, can I call you Cas?”

“If you’d like.”

“Thanks, man.”

“You are welcome.”

There was a pause.

“So like, do you have super powers or something.”

“My abilities are temporarily subdued.”

“Woah. What are they?”

“My angelic grace usually allows me a variety of things.”

“Like what?”

“Like, flight –”

_“You can fly?”_

“Not right now, no.”

“Oh, right. Keep going.”

“Telekinesis is another –”

_You can move things with your mind?”_

“Not right now, no.”

“Are you an angel?”

“Yes.” Castiel gave the child a look of perplexity.

“Cause, like, Sam keeps saying your some kind of angel, and like, I thought it was just like, a metaphor or something, but you’re like, actually an angel. Is there a god? Do you know Him? Can I meet Him?”

“Yes, my Father does exist, no, I have not met him, and no, he will not appear before you unless he so wishes.”

“Dude, you even talk like an angel.”

“I am unsure as to what that implies.”

“Do you have wings?”

“Yes.”

“Can I see them?”

“When I do have my grace, I can create an astral projection, but as of now, I am unable.”

“Oh.”

“You are a very inquisitive child.”

“I’m not a child…”

“How old are you?”

“Sixteen.”

A pause.

“You are a very inquisitive human.”

“Well, yeah, I like to learn about things.”

“Like what?”

“Well, my favorite subject is science, I like to figure out how things work.”

“I see.”

“Do you know a lot about science? Did you go to school? _Is there an angel school?”_

“No.”

“Oh.”

“Teach me.”

"What?"

"Science. Teach me how things work."

“Really?”

“Yes.”


	14. The Dig for Treasure

Donna Noble

* * *

Donna kicked around a stone on the beach. It was oddly empty without Molly. 

“You doing all right, hon?” Her gramps had approached her.

“Yeah, Gramps, I’m fine.”

“Yeah, I miss her too.”

There was a long moment of silence.

“Donna?” A voice came from the trees.

She turned only to find her face to face with Jethro.

“What?”

“Oh, um, Charlie found a note and we need to gather up to read it.”

“Yeah, be there in a minute.”

“Okay.”

Donna sighed.

“Come on, love.”

The two of them made their way back to the camp where everyone else was gathered. Once a headcount had been done, Charlie began to read:

_ “Make your way to the main beach for more instruction.” _

“Well, that’s cryptic.” Dee Dee said.

“Let’s go see what we’re doing.” George said, and they made their way back to the beach.

When they arrived, the beach was completely empty aside from a bucket of shovels and three colour coded baskets. Odd to say the least. 

The other teams were now arriving as well, looking much happier than the blue team.

Sarah Jane picked up the note from the sand and began to read:

_ “Your challenge for today is to dig. You must dig until you collect ten coins. Within this sand, there are only twenty nine coins hidden, none deeper than five feet.” _

_ “Five feet?”  _ There was a cry of outrage. “ _ That’ll take days!” _

“Then we better start digging.”

It took two hours before anyone found a single coin.

“I got one!” Jenny shouted, “I got one!”

“Brilliant! You’re brilliant!” The Doctor embraced the girl. She handed him the coin. “Anything you recognize?”

He looked down, examining it, flipping it over. His face shifted into one of realization. 

“Where is it from?” Donna asked, taking a break from the three foot hole she had been digging.

“It’s from the Oyun  Ş ovu Galaxy.”

“And?” Donna pushed,

“This is not just any simulation of Earth, Donna.” The Doctor said, “It’s a game show planet. We’re in an intergalactic game show.”

“So how do we get off?”

 

It wasn’t long before the heat began to get to them. Donna felt like everything was slowing down. They began to take breaks, and the teams banded together to create a system. Sarah Jane, Mantis, Luna, Dee Dee, Hermione, and John were in charge of water. Together, they lit fires and boiled water to drink so no one got dehydrated. Every hour there was a ten minute break where everyone would just stop digging. It was actually kind of nice; It felt like unity.

It was another hour before anyone found anything. This time it was Natasha, though instead of making a scene, she simply tossed it in the red basket and continued her search.

It was another hour before another was found. Red team again, this time by the new guy, Clint. The sun beat down on their backs with agonizing ferocity. Gramps didn’t seem to be doing so well.

“Sit down, Gramps.” Donna pleaded, ”Just for a few minutes.” 

“Not now, Donna, not when we could lose! We’ve got to keep working!”

“You’ll have a stroke.”

“I will not!”

“Just sit down!”

Three hours later and everyone was just exhausted. It felt impossible. No more progress had been made, although the amount of space for the coins to hide was getting smaller and smaller.

“I found one!” Ginny burst from a hole, a coin clutched in her hand.

It wasn’t ten minutes later before Peter jumped up with his own.

Six hours later and Donna was increasingly concerned. The hot afternoon turned into the freezing night. The red team had already found seven, the green team had found four, and blue has six. It was looking good.

It was only four hours before the red team finally won. They gave a cheer before Natasha, Clint, and John retired to their camp, unconcerned with who would lose their life. But it was nice to see that Steve, Neville, River Song, Hermione, Mickey, and Castiel remained.

Two hours later, and it was neck and neck. Both the blue team and green team held nine coins. It was beginning to get light again and most everyone was passing out periodically from exhaustion, despite the breaks every hour.

“I GOT IT!” Peter shouted, sprinting back towards the basket and throwing it in with impressive accuracy.

There was a rumble of thunder and Donna braced herself for what was to come next.

The lightning flashed.

There was a scream.

Dee Dee was gone.


	15. Building Bridges

Steve Rogers

* * *

“Well, at least we’ve got something.” River Song said, “If the Doctor is right, which he usually is, at least we know where we are.”

“You believe that nutcase?” John cried in disbelief. “He’s completely insane! ‘Game show planet?’ I mean, come on.”

“I believe him.” Castiel said boldly. 

“So do I.” Steve agreed.

“Me too.”

“And me.”

“This is insane.” John stormed away.

“It is a shame,” Hermione said softly, “He was so pleasant before Sherlock left.”

 

The days continued on and Steve found himself meeting up more and more from people from the other teams. Specifically, the Doctor.

“So, you know a lot about my time?”

“I was there.”

“Oh, right, time traveling alien.”

“So, what do you miss most?”

“There was this girl.”

“What was she like?”

Steve laughed, “She was beautiful, and fierce. Strong beyond belief, clever bold…”

“What was her name?”

“Peggy. She was perfect.”

“Sounds it.” Steve looked at the Doctor. He was looking into the distance, as if contemplating an old memory.

“You have a girl?”

“What? Me? Nah.” The Doctor gave a grin that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Come on, there’s gotta be a girl.” Steve said, “I know that look.”

“It was no one.”

“No it wasn’t. You’ve gotta tell me.”

“Please, it was no one.” Emotion brimmed in the Doctor’s eyes. They were so old. Ancient even.

“How about just a name?” The Doctor sighed, closing his eyes to dispel the emotions.

“Rose. Her name was Rose.”

 

Steve couldn’t help but notice Castiel spending a lot of time with Peter Parker. It wouldn’t be so odd if Castiel didn’t look so fascinated. The angel (yes, Steve really did believe he was an angel) didn’t really ever portray emotion. He seemed to know everything in the universe, and yet, when he sat with Peter, his face seemed to light up with fascination. 

“What do you two talk about?” Steve asked one evening. 

“Science.” Castiel smiled. “He’s teaching me science.”

“What do you mean?” 

“How things work.” Steve gave him a quizzical look, so he elaborated. “I never really thought about it before, because everything is just my Father’s doing, but within his doing, there are millions of little things that all rely on each other.”

“And you never figured this out before?”

“No.” Castiel looked so proud, that Steve couldn’t bare to tear him down.

“Well, I think that is great.”

“I know.”

 

Star-Lord and Captain Jack seemed to be having an incredible time together, exchanging stories about their adventures and the things they’d seen.

John just sat by himself most of the time. People tried to comfort them, but he pushed them all away. 

Natasha, Clint, and River Song were, to be perfectly honest, absolutely terrifying when all together, which they were. A lot.

Luna and Mantis smiled and spoke about creatures they’d seen, most of which sounded made up but at the moment, everything seemed completely made up.

Charlie and Jenny tended to have a good time together, if Steve didn’t know better, he’d have said they were flirting, but no, that would be ridiculous.

Sam and Dean started by only speaking to each other and Castiel, but it didn’t take long for them to invite Ginny into their group. Steve was well-aware that she was more badass than people gave her credit for.

It wasn’t surprising to see many people devolving back to their initial groups. Martha and Mickey were sticking together, but that made sense, as they were married and all, and they often did talk to others. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were completely unbreakable, but were incredibly exclusive about it, not wanting to talk to anyone they didn’t already know from before. Neville and George spent a lot of time together, but they both were more than happy to talk to other people. Donna and Jethro sat together a lot, but every time they did, it seemed awkward, emotionally heavy, and not in the romantic way. Something happened. Wilf and Sarah Jane spent a lot of time talking, it looked quite civilized, but sometimes they would burst out laughing, sneaking looks at the Doctor. 

To be honest, Steve was really impressed with how people had begun to bond. Sure, things were still tense between some groups of people, not everyone liked everyone else, but for once it felt like everyone was on the same team. The team that wanted to survive.


	16. Three Blind Mice

Sarah Jane Smith

* * *

 

Sarah Jane found it quite refreshing that everyone was getting along so well. It was pleasant. But tensions rose again as their next challenge commenced. They all reported to the beach. Just as they walked into view, there were a number of shouts and three people went down. 

“Doctor! Doctor!” Sarah Jane was by his side in an instant. He was out cold. So was Peter and John. 

“Dad!” Jenny was significantly more panicked than anyone else.

_ “Your challenge for today will be difficult.”  _ Ginny began to read the note.  _ “One member from each team will be blinded. You must guide them through the maze without touching them. Good luck.” _

“Jenny?”

“Dad!” Jenny ran to the Doctor’s side as he regained consciousness. He opened his eyes, but they were foggy. Not only that, but they were looking just over the girl’s shoulder. 

“Jenny?” Jenny grabbed her father’s hand. “Jenny, I can’t see.” His voice was steady, informative, and reassuring, just as it always was, but his hands. His hands were trembling. If you looked past the words he was saying, it was clear how terrified the Doctor truly was. Sarah Jane had learned to look past his words long ago.

“Dad, it’s okay. It’s okay. I’m here. I’m right here.” She pulled him close so that he could feel her against him. 

“Of course it’s all right.” The Doctor’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. They never did.

The Doctor stood up. He was holding Jenny’s hand so tightly that his knuckles were white, but the girl didn’t complain.  
Surrounding the Doctor was Martha, Jack, Donna, Jethro, Jenny, Wilf, River Song, Mickey, and herself. Surrounding Peter was Castiel, Charlie, Luna, and Ginny. John was alone. Well, Nat was over him, but kind of prodding him with her foot.

“It’s just for the challenge,” Sarah Jane quietly assured the Doctor, “Just for this short time.”

“How do you know?”

There was silence. To be honest, it made the Doctor look like he was in agony. The pain of silence.

“Right then, we’ll keep talking.” Sarah Jane made a face that indicated that everyone should keep talking. “Come on, why don’t you stand up?” 

John was honestly too angry to seem to care. His eyes remained closed. It was only now that Sarah Jane noticed George sit down next to him, but John didn’t push him away. They sat, talking. It was nice to see.

Peter, on the other hand, was not doing too well himself. He was shaking a bit, but not nearly as bad as the Doctor. 

_ “HANDS OFF!”  _ The voice in the sky boomed as thunder crashed and everyone’s hands jumped off of the three blind competitors.

Sarah Jane looked around. She hadn’t yet surveyed her surroundings. She found herself looking at metal bars that together formed a maze. The Doctor, John, and Peter each clutched an entryway. There was only one exit, and at the end were three podiums, each big enough to contain a team.

_ “Each team must stand on their podium and maneuver their teammate through the maze.”  _ The voice boomed. 

Reluctantly, the teams made their way towards their podiums. 

“We’re right here, Dad!” Jenny called out. The Doctor nodded, his dull eyes staring in vaguely the right direction.

There was a clap of thunder.

_ “Begin.”  _

“Dad, keep your hands on the bars!”

“Yeah, I got that much!” The Doctor shouted back at Jenny.

“Peter –” Sarah Jane pried her eyes away from the Doctor, only to find Peter, sprinting through the maze at an insane speed, in and out and around and behind. He would run until he nearly hit a bar, but then would suddenly fly in the other direction.

“That kid is insane.” Star-Lord said.

“So, how long have you known my dad for?” Jenny asked Sarah Jane as they awaited the end.

“I met him when I was twenty-seven.” Sarah Jane smiled, “He disappeared for a while, but he always found his way back.” Jenny smiled.

“You’ve known him for a long time, then.”

“Yes, I have.”

It didn’t take long for Peter to make it to the end of the maze. Just as he stepped through the threshold, he fell, as if struck, and hit the ground. 

“Peter? Peter, do you hear me?” Martha was over the boy in an instant.

“Ow.” Peter said, looking at Martha.  _ At Martha.  _ “Oh, I can see you! I can see. I can see.” Peter lay back down, panting, staring into the sky in relief.

The Doctor was making slow progress, but Peter’ success seemed to boost adrenaline and he was moving quickly. John looked disoriented and honestly as if he’d given up.

Finally, the Doctor made his way through, quickly being struck to the ground.

“Oh, my head…”

“Dad!” The Doctor’s eyes locked onto Jenny.

“I can see you, Jenny! Oh, I can see you!”

Thunder rumbled and lightning struck and John was gone.


	17. Forming A Friendship

Ginny Weasley

* * *

 

Ginny made her way back to the camp. It was so quiet. How long was this going to go on for? Six people were already dead and how long would this go until? Until everyone was dead?

“Hey Gin, you okay?” Harry asked, taking her hand and trying to pull her into a kiss. But to his surprise, she pulled back. “Ginny?”

“Just, not right now.”

“Right.”

They sat in silence for a bit, watching the ocean wash onto the beach. 

“When will it end, Harry?”

“What?”

“Everything.” Ginny sighed, “This whole,  _ thing. _ ”

“I don’t know.” Harry admitted, “But the Doctor, he seems to have an idea as to what to do and –”

“What happened to you doing things?”

“What?”

“Come on, Harry. Why are you waiting for someone else to figure it out?” 

“Ginny, I –”

“What happened to you? You thought just because Voldemort is gone you can just let everyone else figure it out?”

“Ginny… I –”

“No, Harry. I don’t want to hear it.” Ginny stormed off towards the forest. 

“Ginny! Where are you going?”

“Away."

“Ginny…” But Harry’s voice faded into the background as she pushed her way through the leaves. 

She found herself sitting on the cliff. It was quiet and beautiful. The sun was setting and for once, everything felt at peace.

“It’s beautiful out here, isn’t it?”

Ginny turned to see Jenny, standing beside her.

“How’d you find me, then?” Genny asked as they both sat down on the cliff’s edge.

“My dad spotted you from the beach.”

“How could he tell it was me?”

“Superior vision.”

“Oh, of course.”

There was a pause.

“How’s the boyfriend?”

“Oh, Harry?” Ginny sighed. “I’m just tired of it. He was a hero, Jenny. He save my life countless times, but now… It’s like he’s not even trying. I get this is out of his comfort zone, it is for everyone, but he’s not even trying to figure it out.”

Jenny hummed in acknowledgement. 

“So, what’s up with your family, then?” Ginny asked, desperately trying not to make things awkward, “I know the Doctor’s your dad, but you got a mum or siblings or anything?”

“No, not that I know of.” Jenny said, “I mean, I was created in this progenation machine. What it does is it takes a tissue sample from the parent and creates a mentally programed adult from the DNA.”

“Oh, so you don’t even have a mum.” Ginny said.

“Nope.” Jenny popped her ‘p’ just as Ginny had noticed the Doctor do. “So what about your family?” Jenny asked in fascination. “You have two parents, yeah?”

“Yeah, and like, loads of siblings.” Ginny laughed, “Ron and George are here –”  
“The ginger ones?” Ginny laughed,

“Yeah, the ginger ones. There are seven of us: Ron’s the youngest besides me, then there’s George, then older than him is Percy, then there’s Charlie, and Bill.”

“You said seven…”

“Oh, yeah…” Ginny closed her eyes. “Not too long ago, my brother, he, he passed away.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“Yeah…” There was a long silence. “Anyway, so Ron’s trying to become an Auror, George runs a joke shop, Percy’s head of the Department of Magical Transportation at the Ministry, Charlie’s a Dragonologist, and Bill’s a Curse Breaker at Gringotts, which is the Wizarding Bank.”

“What about your parents?”

“My mum stays at home, and my dad’s head of the Office for the Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects at the Ministry.”

“And the Ministry is…?”

“That’s like our government.”

“Oh.”

“What about your dad?” Ginny asked, “So, he travels through time and space…He’s an alien. Oh my – you’re an alien!”

“Yeah…”

“Sorry, sorry.” Ginny took a deep breath, “I mean, you just seem so… so human.”

“Check this out.” Jenny grinned and took Ginny’s hand, placing it over her chest. Ginny froze.

“Woah.”

“Two heartbeats.”

“That’s incredible.” Ginny gasped. “Is there anything else you can do?”

“Well, I have better reflexes, precision timing, and acrobatic ability than humans if that counts.”

“That’s brilliant.” Ginny said. “So, is Peter like, the same?”

“Peter Parker?”

“Yeah.”

“No…” There was a pause. “Dad says he’s human, but I can tell he knows something I don’t.”

“So you think he’s lying?”

“No,” Jenny said thoughtfully, “I think he’s just not telling me everything…”

“He seems quite secretive.”

“He can be.” Jenny smiled softly, “I feel like there’s always something in the air, something he wants to – needs to – say, that he can’t quite get out.”

“And you don’t know what it is?”

“No.” Jenny smiled, “It’s actually been a while since I’ve seen my dad.”

“What? Why?”

“Well, when I was given life, we were on this planet, Messaline, and I got shot. Dad thought me dead – well, I was dead – and somehow, it must have something to do with my Time-Lord biology, I came back. But he was gone. So I stole a shuttlecraft and traveled for a while.”

“Oh, wow.”

“So, now that you know about what I do, what do you do?” Jenny asked in fascination.

“Well, I’m going to try out for the Holyhead Harpies, which is a Professional Quidditch team.”

“What’s Quidditch, then?”

“It’s a sport, played on brooms. See, there’s four balls and seven players…"  



	18. The Relay Race

Wilfred Mott

* * *

 

Wilf and the Doctor gazed up at the cliff where Jenny and Ginny were sitting. “Ah, young love.” Wilf smiled. “I remember that.”

The Doctor froze.

“D’you think?”

“I bloody well do,” Wilf laughed, “You’ve got eyes, haven’t you?” The Doctor gave a long gaze at the two girls, his face in a dumbstruck smile.

“That would be lovely, wouldn’t it?”

“Gramps! Doctor!” Donna called from the camp, “We found another note!”

The Doctor and Wilfred made their way towards the camp.

“Can you get Jenny?” Wilf asked, “Can you like, talk to her with your mind?”

“Touch-Telepath,” The Doctor reminded him.

“Right, right.” The Doctor put two fingers to his mouth and whistled a shrill, high pitched whistle.

Jenny jumped visibly and waved at her dad, who whistled again. Wilf, who had learned it in his years of military training, recognized it as morse code.

“-.-.--- -- . / -.. --- .-- -.”

“-.-. --- -- .. -. --.” Jenny replied, and she and Ginny made their way down.

“When’d you teach her morse?” Wilf asked, “I thought you said you hadn’t seen her in years?”

“Well, she is quite clever.” The Doctor said fondly.

“You coming?” Donna called.

“Yes, love!” Wilf called.

All the note had said, was to go to the beach to receive more instructions, but they waited for Jenny to return. The Doctor had insisted upon it. He told them that they had to stick together.

Jenny returned in record time, and the team made their way down to the beach.

The others were already there when they arrived. 

_ “Your challenge today is a relay race. Each team will send one member at a time to swim to a booey, dive down, collect a brick. Within each of these bricks is a medallion. The team must collect ten medallions to win. The blue team must send one member twice, and the red team two. Good luck.” _

“Come on.” The Doctor said, “Who do we think should go twice?”

“I can go.” Jenny suggested.

“Brilliant, sounds good to everyone?” There was a nod.

They decided that Jenny would also go first, so she would have plenty of recovery time between her second go. 

Next would be dean, then Jethro, then the Doctor to maintain a strong lead, then Luna, Donna, Wilf, Charlie, George, and Jenny for a strong finish.

Thunder smashed above them in the clear blue sky and Jenny, Castiel, and Star-Lord sprinted into the water. Wilf watched Jenny dive immediately in, shooting through the water like a missile. Star-Lord was a bit slower, staying at the surface to scout out the waters beneath him. Castiel stayed where he could touch, scouting out to find the closest one to him.

Jenny was out first, heaving an enormous brick out of the water. The blue team cheered, and Wilf couldn’t help but notice Ginny join in, then immediately stop when her team gave her a scrutinizing look.

Jenny dropped the brick on the beach and Dean took off running. “All right, you take a break,” The Doctor suggested, “The rest of us will try to break this open. Jethro, you’re on deck, keep an eye on Dean.”

The team began to attempt to break the concrete as Star-Lord emerged from the water with his brick and Sam ran into the water. Castiel still searched, desperately looking for one close by. Finally, his eyes lit up and he held his breath, dunking beneath the water and emerging victorious, holding a brick in his hands.

“Got it!” The Doctor cried as the cement broke open. Dean ran back out of the water and Jethro sprinted in. 

Sam had just emerged from the water, Ginny proceeding him. Natasha had proceeded Castiel in the water, and was already emerging with her brick. 

Sun beat down on Wilf as they anxiously awaited for Jethro’s return so that they could send the Doctor in. 

It didn’t take long for Jethro to return, and the Doctor ran in. By now Clint had returned from the water and River Song was running in, blowing the Doctor a kiss. Martha had just run into the water after them, looking confused.

Luna, Donna, Wilf, Charlie, and George had come and gone and now Jenny was going again. The red team was right at their heels, With Natasha going for her second round. The green team was much further behind, with Jack and Peter still to go.

Jenny and Natasha came out at the same time, sprinting across the hot sand to try to break it open. It was Natasha who broke hers first, Jenny right after her. 

There was a crash of thunder and a flash of lightning. Someone started screaming. Where Ron had once stood there was a symbol burnt into the sand. Harry and Hermione were staring at the symbol.


	19. A Surprise Twist

Luna Lovegood

* * *

 

Luna hadn’t been sitting down for five minutes before thunder rumbled and the voice boomed:

_ “Each team, send two participents to the beach.” _

There was a silence. “I’ll go, I guess.” Charlie shrugged, her aura was a pale-yellow, bright orange, red-orange, brilliant red, and a yellow-green. It was quite pleasant. “There’s nothing to do around here anyway.” 

“I’ll come too,” Luna smiled, “The Blibbering Humdingers are out.”

Luna and Charlie began to make their way to the main beach where they found Harry and Sam from the green team, as well as Castiel and Mickey from the red team. 

Just twenty minutes ago, Harry’s aura had been a red-orange and yellow-green, but now that Ron was gone, it had a mix of yellow and a hint of black. Sam’s aura was a bit more intense than what Luna was used to: It had a pleasant orange-yellow, but there also was a clouded and aggressive red as well as a dark and cold black. Mickey, on the other hand, was a pretty simple yellow-green. It was nice, but not incredibly intriguing. Castiel was, well, odd to say the least. His had a full-on rainbow, but the colours that were most defined were the darker colours: the black, grey, and the murky brown, but there was also a bright pink that matched the one she recognized from Dean. Curious.

“What d’you think we’re all here for?” Mickey asked curiously, casting a gaze around.

“It couldn’t be another challenge,” Charlie said, “We just had one.”

“I agree.” Castiel said, “Where it is possible, I think it unlikely.”

Harry bruded in the corner. Luna went to join him. 

They sat in silence, there was nothing anyone could say.

Without warning, there was a crash of thunder and a strike of lightning and the world around them went dark.

 

Luna opened her eyes. She looked around. They were in the same place. Nothing had changed. Nothing but –

“What the –?” Sam climbed to his feet, his tracksuit was no longer the green from before, but was now bright red. Harry’s too was now blue, and Charlie was red, and Mickey was green, Castiel was blue. Luna looked down. A green tracksuit where the blue had been.

“I guess we’re switching teams.”

There was a pause.

“Well, I guess we better head out.” Sam and Charlie began to walk in the direction of the red camp, by now, they all knew where all the camps were. Castiel and Harry began to walk towards the blue camp.

“Let’s go, then.” Mickey and Luna began to walk down the path. It was quiet. Awkward.

When they walked into camp, silence fell. Mantis, Star-Lord, Peter, Sarah Jane, Captain Jack, and Ginny were all staring at them, waiting for an explanation.

“We – er – we switched teams.” Mickey said awkwardly. 

Martha came running up, crashing her lips into his.

Martha’s aura was quite nice. It was a pleasant orange-yellow and yellow-green. Mantis’s aura was quite odd, but Luna supposed that was to be expected with an alien like her. It was a more pale rainbow with a defined light green. Star-Lord’s was quite red-orange and brilliant red, but it also was a murky brown. Peter was bright orange and blindingly white, it was so pure. Sarah-Jane had a very aesthetically pleasing, as it was a nice bright orange and red-orange. Captain Jack’s was surprisingly lemon yellow, but also quite red-orange and brilliant red. But at the same time, he had quite a bit of black in him. More than most would think. Ginny’s was bright pink. Recent love was afoot. It was incredibly similar to Jenny’s, as, despite the rainbow, her aura had a defined pink look as well.

“It’s a shame about Sam.” Captain Jack grinned, “He was a looker, but you ain’t half bad, Mickey Mouse.”

“I’m going for a walk.” Ginny said, and she stood up and walked into the woods.

“Ginny!” Luna called after her, following.

“Leave me alone, Luna.”

“Where are you going?”

“Nowhere.”

“Are you sure, because it looks like you’re going to the blue camp.” Ginny didn’t reply. “Is it to see Jenny?”

Ginny turned bright pink. “What – what d’you mean?”

“Jenny. Aren’t the two of you together?”

“No. No, I’m still dating Harry.”

“But you —”

“I really don’t want to talk about it.”

“Okay, why don’t you wait here, and I’ll go get Jenny.”

“I can do it.” Ginny snapped, “Go back to the camp.”

“What if I want to go to the blue camp as well?”

“Just leave me alone!”

“Oh.” Luna said, “Oh, I get it.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s about Ron, isn’t it…”

“Yes! Of course it is!” Ginny shouted, tears in her eyes, “My brother just died!”

“He doesn’t feel properly gone, does he?” Luna said quietly.

“I keep thinking he’ll just walk back into the camp like nothing ever happened.”

“Come on, let’s get Jenny.”

“I’m not going to see Jenny. I need to talk to Harry.”

They silently walked towards the blue camp. 

“Hey Harry.” Luna smiled as they found the young man on the beach.

They made their way to the woods.

“Hey, Ginny.”

“Um, Harry, I need to talk to you.”

“Yeah, sure, what is it?”

Luna went to move away to give them some privacy, but Ginny clutched her hand.

“Oh, Harry, I just can’t do this anymore.” Ginny cried, “With Ron gone, I mean, I just can’t keep lying to myself, and you! Harry, I’m sorry!” Tears ran down Ginny’s face.

“Ginny?” Harry looked frozen, confusion and fear interlacing.

“Harry, I’m breaking up with you.”

“What?”

“I’m sorry, I just can’t do it anymore.” Ginny began to run, not daring to look back at Harry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aura Key:
> 
> Rainbow: Healers trained to work with bodies of energy fields who are evolved spiritually and are attuned to the spiritual frequency of the fifth dimension.
> 
> Colourful Stripes: Radiates around hands and head a rainbow of colours that are seen as shards of light resembling a sunburst.
> 
> Pale Rainbow: An emerging healer or someone on the verge of true enlightenment.  
> \----------------------------------------------
> 
> Yellow:  
> Brilliant Yellow: Spiritually inspired, have a playful spirit, and often act on your thoughts.
> 
> Dark Yellow: Feel pressured to achieve goals and do well as either a student or professional, but lost the love of learning and studying or working and it has become a tiresome chore.
> 
> Lemon Yellow: Fear of loss. This could be the loss of a job, lifestyle, health, people, or the fear of losing control of your destiny.
> 
> \----------------------------------------------
> 
> Orange:  
> Bright Orange: Indicates good health, vibrancy, and living life to the fullest.
> 
> Red-Orange: They wield great personal power and give off an air of confidence.
> 
> Orange-Yellow: Scientific mind and the tendency of a perfectionist as well as a love for detailed work and mentally challenging projects.
> 
> \----------------------------------------------
> 
> Red:  
> Dark Red: Centered and grounded to the earth, self-sufficient and able to survive most circumstances.
> 
> Brilliant Red: Very passionate, sexual, full of energy, and competitive.
> 
> Clouded Red: A deep-seated anger that they can't let go.
> 
> Pink: A loving person, an artist, sensual, who appreciates the finer things in life, or they've recently fallen in love.
> 
> \----------------------------------------------
> 
> Blue:  
> Royal Blue: Highly developed spiritual intuitive or clairvoyant. They have a very generous and giving spirit and are always open to new possibilities.
> 
> \----------------------------------------------
> 
> Green:  
> Light Green: Indicates love, healing, and innocence.
> 
> Yellow-Green: A good communicator. May be an actor, writer, or salesperson.
> 
> Turquoise: Powerful healer, helps others discover their inner truths.
> 
> \----------------------------------------------
> 
> Purple:  
> Voilet: A visionary and someone who can daydream and change the world with spiritual love.
> 
> Indigo: They get glimpses into other worlds and are a wise seeker.
> 
> \----------------------------------------------
> 
> White: Indicates and newness and purity.
> 
> Grey: Indicates blocked energy fields and a strong mistrust for anyone or anything.
> 
> Murky Brown: A fear of letting go, they are trying to hold on to their personal power and they're afraid to share themselves with others.
> 
> Black: Indicates holding on to negative feelings, typically an unwilling and unforgiving spirit.


	20. Paper Thin

Jenny

* * *

 

It didn’t take long for Jenny to figure out what happened with Harry and Ginny, mostly because Harry was now refusing to leave his bed. So when the next challenge was afoot, Jenny wasted no time pulling Ginny aside. “What happened?”

“I just couldn’t do it anymore, Jenny, I just couldn’t keep lying to him.”

“Ginny, I think –” Before Jenny could say anything else Ginny had thrown herself onto her, lips locking with Jenny’s.

There was a pause, where they both just stared at each other, and then Ginny seemed to unfreeze herself and ran back to her team.

The challenge, Jenny soon found, was to balance on a beam. Easy enough. The last one off would win. Easy enough. But the beam would keep getting thinner and thinner. Not as easy.

They stood on the beam. There was still an awkwardness in the air, as the switching of teams had created tensions.

Donna, Jethro, the Doctor, Wilf, George, Dean, Castiel, Harry, and herself stood on the beam.

“So.” Jethro said after a moment’s silence. “Anyone got any stories?”

Jenny tuned out her father’s stories for, as much as she loved hearing them, she wanted to focus on everyone else. It fascinated her to no end how much body language could tell about someone. She had learned that from Sarah Jane. The wise woman had shown her things she had never thought about before.

She started with her own team. The Doctor was talking, but his face was tired, sleepless. Sure, Time-Lords didn’t need to sleep all that often, but they did eventually. She wondered how long it had been since her father had slept. Donna was next to her Gramps, Wilf. They were much stronger than Jenny had expected them to be. Together until the end. Jethro had been like that as well, except he had seemed to isolate himself. Both his parents had died, and it had taken a toll on the boy, even if he didn’t outwardly show it. George was stuck in mourning, but it was as if he had never left. She wondered who else it was that he lost and how long ago it was. Harry, after losing his best friend and being dumped, didn’t even bother talk to people. Dean and Castiel on the other hand. Well, they kept looking at each other. It seemed that everyone knew about them except for them.

On the green team, Mantis was looking at the Doctor with fascination. Star-Lord looked as if he didn’t believe the Doctor’s stories, and kept sending doubtful looks at Sarah-Jane, who would often pop up in the stories. Martha and Mickey were clutching each other’s hands tightly, listing closely. Captain Jack was sending winks Sam’s way, who seemed flustered and confused. Luna seemed incredibly in-touch with the nature around her and was in a completely meditative state. Ginny, on the other hand, she kept catching her staring at Jenny, then quickly averting her gaze, cheeks bright pink.

When it came to the red team, Natasha and River Song were having a lovely chat. Steve was listening to the Doctor with wonder, Neville’s look was more disbelieving, and Charlie’s was star-struck. Hermione was in mourning, unwilling to speak to anyone. Clint kept interjecting into Natasha’s and River Song’s conversation.

Consequently, the first person to drop off was Clint, as Natasha had shoved him into the water. Star-Lord fell in next, as he had been laughing so hard that he couldn’t keep his balance.

It was only a few minutes later that Harry fell in, unable to stay up anymore.

Suddenly, about a third of the beam fell into the water, sending Mantis and an unsuspecting Luna into the water.

Thirty minutes later, people were already getting tired.

One hour later another part of the beam dropped off, sending Martha, Sarah Jane, Donna, and Hermione in with it.

There were only four people left on the green team: Jack, Ginny, Mickey, and a surprisingly steady Peter.

Red had six: Steve, Neville, River Song, Natasha, Sam, and Charlie, and blue stood strong with seven: Jethro, Jenny, the Doctor, Wilf, George, Dean, and Castiel.

But that was before River Song, who had been flirting with the Doctor, swept her foot behind the Doctor’s, knocking him into the water.

“Oi!” He called, and so Jenny, who had been standing next to her father and therefore was now next to River Song, knocked her in. It was war now.

Jethro managed to knock Mickey into the water, but Mickey grabbed ahold of Jethro’s wrist, pulling him in as well.

Ginny easily knocked Wilf into the water, but her brother, George, was one step ahead, tackling her at the legs and sending them both cascading into the water.

There were now two people on the green team: Jack and Peter, three on the blue: Dean, Castiel, and Jenny, and five on the red: Steve, Neville, Natasha, Sam, and Charlie.

Jenny had to do something about that.

Jenny jumped into the air, landing acrobatically on the other side right beside Charlie, who she knocked into the water easily. Sam was much more difficult, but, as he was very tall, she slid beneath his legs and got him from behind. She stepped back. She was now face to face with Natasha.

From across the narrow beam, Dean had just knocked Jack into the water leaving only Peter for the green team.

Natasha looked the other way to see who had fallen in, so Jenny struck, sending her leg flying towards Natasha’s calves.

With an action as fast as lightning, Natasha jumped back, grabbing Jenny’s leg and sending the young Time-Lord into the water.

Dean and Castiel worked together to get Steve into the water, but with a push from behind from Neville, they fell in as well, grabbing Neville and sending him down with them.

It was now Peter and Natasha. Jenny winced, Peter didn’t stand a chance. But the young boy held firm.

Natasha advanced, but Peter didn’t move, not daring to disconnect from the beam.

Come on крошечный паук,” Natasha said, but Peter refused to move. She attempted to pick him up, but somehow couldn’t pry his fingers from the beam.

Another chunk fell off the beam.

Three hours later and nothing had happened. Peter and Natasha stood on the beam, neither of them wavering.

Four more hours and they both still stood there, still as statues, and more of the beam fell into the water below.

“Just give it up, крошечный паук.” Natasha said, “You know I can outlast you.”

“Are you sure?” Peter grinned.

“Just knock him off already!” Clint called from the shore.

Natasha grinned and the two faced each other as more of the beam hit the water. Natasha began to run at Peter, who was tensed in a defensive position. He jumped up to try to get the high ground, but that was evidently his downfall.

It didn’t take long for Peter to go flying off the beam, but he held on for longer than anyone had expected.

There was a pause. Now everyone was waiting for that familiar lightning strike.

Thunder crashed, lightning struck. Eyes flew around, searching for the place where the person had stood. There it was. Right beside George.

“HARRY!” Ginny was staring at the place where Harry once stood.

Jenny grabbed her hand, but Ginny pulled away. “It’s all my fault.” She whispered, “Oh my god, it’s all my fault.”


	21. Feelings

Star-Lord

* * *

 

Star-Lord watched as Jenny ran to comfort Ginny, but the girl ran. She sprinted into the forest back towards the green camp. 

“Ginny!” Jenny called after her, but she kept running. 

“I’ll go find her.” George said, and hurried off to find his sister.

“We need to figure out what we’re going to do about this.” The Doctor said through his teeth. “We can’t keep doing this.”

“Agreed.” A number of people murmured. 

That evening, they all sat around a small campfire that Wilf had made. The three teams sat in unity. They needed to make a move. But for now, people were just talking. Smiling. Laughing. And it was good. Even Ginny cracked a smile.

The thing that was so funny was that Mantis had touched Jack. As can be imagined, Jack’s mind was not filled with sunshine and rainbows. She physically jumped back, blushing furiously. 

“Do me!” Luna grinned, “What do you see?”

“You’re third eye is open.” Mantis said, “You feel love and hope, and it is beautiful...”

“Do Peter; he’s hiding something.” Jack suggested.

Mantis touched Peter. “But powerful. You feel strength and power, but humility and fear, very much fear.”

“Okay…”

“What about Dean?” George suggested. “He’s quite secretive…”

“Trust me,” Dean said, “You do not want to see everything that’s up here.”

Mantis placed a hand on Dean, she smiled softly. “So much love.” She said, Dean rolled his eyes. “For him.” Dean froze. Mantis’s hand was pointing directly at Castiel. The beach went silent.

“Dean, I believe there is a matter of great importance and I must speak with you in private.” Castiel told him, and the two of them disappeared off into the woods.

“Knew it.” Sam laughed quietly. Star-Lord grumbled in frustration. He would be doing Sam’s laundry for a week...

Sam was the next to be touched. Mantis held on. “So much loneliness,” She said, “So much pain, it hurts…” She released Sam, who had gone quiet.

Donna was next. “You feel passion.” Mantis said, “You feel the love of friends, the love of family, confidence, joy, you are special.”

“For the last time, I’m not.” Donna sighed.

“But you are.” Mantis said, “I can feel it. You are special.”

The Doctor was smirking, River looked, well, confident. But River always looked confident. Before she knew it, there was a hand on her shoulder.

“You feel so much love for him. For your Doctor. But he hurts you. Why does he hurt you so?” 

River swatted her away. The Doctor was looking at her, “I hurt you?”

“No, love.” River said lovingly, “Spoilers.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Star-Lord asked.

“We’re both time travelers.” River explained, “I meet him in reverse order. As I get older, he gets younger and remembers me less and less.”

“River…” The Doctor breathed, but River hushed him.

“What about Cap over here?” Natasha gestured for Mantis, “What’s Cap’s gossip?” I 

“He feels strength, purpose, nobility. Sadness, loneliness, but hope. Very much hope.”

“Where’d Ginny go?” George asked suddenly, looking around. 

“Jenny’s gone too.” Wilf pointed out, mostly to the Doctor, whose face split into a smile.

“What about the Doctor?” Clint asked suddenly. 

“Oh, you don’t want to look in my head,” The Doctor said nervously, “Complicated brain, ancient Time-Lord, lots of thoughts you don’t want to see.”

“Why not, Doctor?” Natasha asked suspiciously, “What don’t you want us to know?”

“Oh, I’ve lived a very long life,” He said anxiously, “I’ve seen a lot of things that ought not to be re-seen.”

“Prove you’re to be trusted.” Natasha growled. Out of the corner of his eye, Star-Lord saw Mantis, standing there innocently. He ran over to help Natasha alongside Steve, Neville, Hermione, Clint, Sam, and Charlie to hold the Doctor down. Martha, Mickey, Donna, Jethro, Wilf, and George tried to pry them off of the struggling Doctor, who seemed incriminatingly desperate to get away. Peter and Luna were standing there awkwardly, clearly not knowing exactly what to do. 

Finally, Mantis’ hand connected with the Doctor’s forehead. She screamed, dropping to the ground and releasing the Doctor, who could only watch in horror.

Mantis stared up at him. “How can you live with yourself?” She gasped, “How can someone in so much pain be so quiet?”

The Doctor stared. “I –”

“You hate yourself.” It wasn’t a question. “Because you know you are a monster. Deep down, you know it was your fault.”  
“Trust me,” The Doctor said, his expression dark, “It’s not that deep down.”


	22. Hanging In There

Mickey Smith

* * *

 

After what happened with the Doctor, the three teams split and returned to their own camps. The next morning, Mantis, Star-Lord, Peter, Sarah Jane, Jack, Ginny, Luna, and Mickey sat in a circle on the beach to talk about what happened. It was Jack, Sarah Jane, and Ginny on one side, Mantis and Star-Lord on another, and Peter was kind of on his own side, trying to be indifferent.

Before they could even really get started, Peter jumped about a foot in the air for no reason, then ran off, coming back with a note. He read it out:

_ “Come to the beach. Today's challenge will be physical, so get your legs ready.” _

“And back to the running.” Jack grinned. 

But running did not look to be what was in store when they returned, as there was a large pit of water and, supported on either side, a long horizontal pole.

“I swear, if we have to balance on this too.” Ginny sighed.

“Here’s the note!” Charlie cried out, waving it above her head. She began to read:

_ “Today’s challenge will not be testing your balance, but your strength. You must climb up on the rail and hang over the pit of water by only your legs. The last team left standing wins. The first team off loses a member.” _

“Let’s discuss with our teams first.” Sarah Jane suggested. The teams nodded, assembling together to plan.

“Well, I think we need to work together.” Martha said reasonably.

“What if we hold hands?” Mantis suggested, “Then we could use each other as balance.”

“Yeah, but if one of us falls…” Jack pointed out.

“Then the others will catch them.” Luna smiled.

“Look, you can do you, we’ll do us.” Martha said.

“But you said we needed to be a team…” Peter pointed out. 

“Yes, I did.” Martha sighed, “But gravity is more powerful than our grip.”

_ “Get in position!”  _ The voice boomed, echoing across the land. Martha sighed. Mickey placed a comforting hand in hers. She squeezed back.

“We’ll make it through this,” Mickey promised, “We’ll figure it out. The Doctor –”

“The Doctor’s not doing too well himself, right now.” Martha pointed out. Mickey followed her finger to where the Doctor sat, on the ground, holding his daughter tightly as if he was afraid she’d slip through his fingers.

“He’s afraid she’ll leave him.” Martha said, noticing the look on Mickey’s face, “He’s afraid that, because of last night…”

“Oh.” 

The teams assembled onto the poles, Peter sitting comfortably, on the end, Natasha was to his right, steady and confident. She wasn’t budging. Next to her was an equally-confident, yet grinning Clint. To Clint’s right was River, sitting firmly. Next to her, Martha looked, well, she looked confident, but Mickey, who was sitting beside her, could tell she was just as anxious as he was. Jack was next to Mickey, and he was quite preoccupied with flirting with Sam, who was next to him. Sam looked properly uncomfortable with Jack, but to be honest, that probably would help Green’s odds. Charlie was beside Sam, and she was staring triumphantly as Cas whispered something to Dean, whose eyes widened and, as much as he would never admit it, his cheeks tinted red. Next to Dean was Hermione, who was clearly trying desperately to look confident, but was failing miserably. Next to her was Neville, who, despite the anxious trembling in his hands, looked quite firm. A calm and collected Luna was next to him, but her legs were already shaking. Ginny and Jenny were holding hands, they would keep each other up or fall together. The Doctor was beside Jenny, he seemed to be doing alright, but his eyes were dull. Last night really did disturb him. Donna was beside him, she was already shaking, but the stubbornness in her eyes and crossed arms told Mickey that she was sticking around for a bit. Jethro was beside her, looking cautious, but he was a strong young lad and looked as though he would fare well. To Jethro’s right was George, who smiled encouragingly to Jethro, and seemed to be holding his own. Beside him, Mickey was unsurprised to see Wilf, sitting comfortably and firmly. Mickey had learned long ago not to underestimate Wilfred Mott. Sarah Jane was too his right. She looked weary, tired from all of this, but that didn’t mean she was weak. Next to Sarah Jane was Mantis, who was smiling, yet her eyes looked nervous. Steve and Star-Lord appeared to be having a silent, rule-less competition over how steady they were. 

Sitting upside down was not as easy as Mickey had thought it would be. It wasn’t thirty seconds before the blood rushed to his head and he began to feel dizzy.

“Hey Mickey,” Martha said, “I’m just going to talk to you to take my mind of this, okay?”

“Okay.” Mickey smiled lovingly, “What do you want to talk about?”

There was a splash and Mantis went cascading into the water below, quickly followed by Luna.

“Oh, those were two people from our team.” Martha cursed.

“Who d’you think’ll fall next?” Mickey asked, trying to take Martha’s mind off of the pain in their legs, “Donna’s shaking, but I feel like she’s stubborn enough to stay up a while longer.”

“What about Wilf?”

“I dunno, he’s stronger than he looks, but he already is looking tired.”

It was Peter Quill who fell next.

“That’s another from us…” Martha sighed.

It was then that Sam hit the water. It seemed that Jack’s flirting had paid off.

“Sorry, tutz.” Jack winked at Sam, who quickly pulled himself out of the water and away. He looked slightly bewildered, Dean looked incredibly amused at his brother’s discomfort.

Sarah Jane was the next to fall.

Then went Martha, and since she was unconsciously clutching Mickey’s hand, he felt her falling weight pull him down too.

They hit the water painfully at an odd angle.

In watching the two of them fall, Hermione dropped as well.

“Peter’ll last.” Mickey said encouragingly. 

“Right, this is not happening.” Donna hit the water.

Martha and Mickey sat side by side, watching the competition, guessing who would fall next. To be honest, it was quite a relief to have already fallen. A great weight had been lifted off the two of them.

“Look at Wilf.” Martha said. Mickey looked and indeed, Wilf was shaking, but he looked firm. He was not willing to drop.

“George’s stronger than I thought he’d be.” Mickey said, the boy looked angrily focused, he was shaking, but you could only notice it if you were really looking.

“Jethro always surprises me.” Martha pointed out.

“Peter kind of freaks me out.” Mickey admitted. “Something’s not right about him…”

“The Doctor knows.” Martha sighed, “He knows but he won’t say.”

“He would tell us if it was important, wouldn’t he?”

“Yes.” Martha determined, “If it was important, he would.”

“Would he?”

 

It wasn’t long before Charlie hit the water. She seemed distracted with Castiel and Dean’s whispering.

Castiel then said something quietly, cocking his head to the side, looking unsure. Dean’s face went red, and in that moment of seeming shock, he lost his concentration and hit the water, instinctively grabbing for Castiel, who fell in after him. As they arose from the water, Castiel looked uncomfortable, at least until Dean smirked, whispered something in his ear, and his eyes widened and cheeks flushed.

Martha smiled knowingly at Mickey.

Wilf was next. Despite his determination, his knees were not as strong as they used to be and simply couldn’t hold on any longer.

Peter, Jack, and Ginny were the only ones left for the green team. Blue only had the Doctor, Jenny, George, and Jethro, and the red team still had Natasha, Clint, River Song, and Steve.

“Hey Pete,” Natasha grinned mischievously.

“Uh, yeah?” But Natasha had already grabbed his arms and pulled him forwards, flinging him off the poll.

Peter missed the water, flying across the sand.

It was all out chaos now.

Steve easily knocked George down, and Neville – well – Neville tried to knock Ginny down, but in his attempt, he lost his grip and fell into the water. In his defence, Ginny did fall too, but only because she was laughing too hard to hold her grip.

Jack was the last one from the green team. Blue still had Jenny, the Doctor, and Jethro, and red still had Natasha, Clint, River, and Steve.

River was right next to the Doctor now. 

“Hello, sweetie.” 

The Doctor said something in Gallifreyan. 

“Oh, mind your language, sweetie.”

River easily decked the Doctor, sending the pacifist falling into the water below.

“Sorry, love.” River said, looking at Jenny.

“No need to be, mum.” River froze.  _ Mum? _

Jenny was more than happy to take advantage of River’s hesitation, and quickly knocked her in.

When River Song emerged from the water, she looked up at Jenny, and she smiled. She gave the most proud smile Mickey had even seen.

Now it was Jack for green, Jenny and Jethro for blue, and Natasha, Clint, and Steve for red.

It was now that Jethro simply couldn’t hold on anymore and hit the water.

Clint and Jack were fighting – well, Clint was trying to fight, Jack was trying to flirt. This ended in both Clint and Jack falling into the water together.

“Oh, that was our last teammate…” Martha said. There was an ominous feeling about it, but they couldn’t quite express it.

Jenny attempted to knock Steve off, but as she was doing so, Natasha approached from behind and sent Jenny falling down.

There was a cry of victory from the red team. A sigh of relief from the blue team. The green team was silent. 

And there it was. That gruesome pause before the inevitable.

There was a crack of thunder.

A flash of lightning.

Mantis was gone.


	23. Arachnids and Dark Secrets

Hermione Granger

* * *

 

As time went on, Hermione could feel the red team getting closer together. It was easier to bond and make decisions. They found themselves fighting less, finding more common ground. Honestly, it was quite relaxing. She and Neville had gotten along from the beginning, and Charlie was hard not to like. Sam was cute. He was kind and clever, _really_ clever. He had a lot of random knowledge of – well, mostly religion and mythology, but it was some really interesting stuff. 

Steve was very nice, he could get kind of intense, but he was kind, respectful, and honorable. Clint was actually a lot of fun. It made Hermione wonder how he ever became friends with the cold and serious Natasha. River was actually really nice, but could also be absolutely terrifying. 

 

It wasn’t long before the red team decided to check out what was happening in the other teams. Natasha, Clint, River Song, and Steve headed to the blue camp, whilst Hermione, Neville, Sam, and Charlie made their way towards green. 

“So, how d’you feel about Dean and Castiel?” Hermione asked. “You know, the fact that they’re dating now?” Sam laughed.

“Honestly, I’m so relieved. I’ve had to sit through the sexual tension for years.”

 

They had only made it halfway before Sam suddenly stopped, silently gesturing for everyone else to do the same. He reached in his pocket for something, quickly figured out that it wasn’t there, and from his other pocket pulled out a makeshift knife. Throwing it at a tree. There was a cry in surprise and Peter gracefully hit the ground, holding the knife in his hand and pointing at Sam with it.

“What —?”

“Sorry, man.” Sam said, taking the knife back from Peter. “Why don’t you tell is why you were spying on us?”

“I — I wasn’t spying.” Peter said defensively, “ _You_ were sneaking around.”

Without warning, Sam swung at the kid. Hermione and Charlie screamed, but to their shock, the kid dodged. Sam kept throwing punches, trying to trip him up to no avail. Finally, Peter grabbed Sam, the muscular 6’4 man, and held him up against a tree.

Sam smirked. “Thought I’d try a little experiment.

“What?” Peter stared at Sam, suddenly dropping him.

Peter ran.

He jumped back into the tree and disappeared into the forest.

“Sam, the hell was that?” Charlie cried. 

“Something’s weird with him.” Sam said.

“But how does that warrant —“ Hermione began, but Sam cut her off.

“He’s not human, Hermione. And we need to figure out what he is and if he’s safe to be around or not.”

“How — What? How’s he not human?” Hermione asked.

“He’s way too fast and strong to be human. Not only that, but it was almost as if he knew what I was gonna do before I did it.”

“So… what is he?” Hermione asked quietly.

“I don’t know.” Sam sighed. “I’m gonna go check in with Dean.” Sam began to jog towards the direction of the blue camp.

“Come on, let’s keep moving.” Charlie said.

“Keep moving?” Hermione looked at her. “We just found out that Peter’s not human and we’re just going to do nothing? We gotta talk to people who know him. Maybe we’ll find something helpful.”

Charlie hesitated, then nodded. “Who knows him from before?”

“Well, the Doctor seems to know what’s up, and Natasha spoke to him in Russian earlier,” Neville pointed out. “When we were on the beam above the water, she called him _крошечный паук_ , which is Russian for Tiny Spider.”

“You know Russian?” Hermione stared at him. Neville shrugged.

“What’s he got to do with spiders?” Charlie asked. “Maybe it’s like French, you know, with the cabbages?” Blank stares. “You know, _mon petit chou chou?”_ More blank stares. “Nothing? Anyway, I just mean it could be a nickname.”

“What about Castiel?” Neville asked. “He spends a lot of time with Peter.”

“I don’t think he knew Peter from before,” Charlie said, “But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know anything. They’ve been pretty close.”

Hermione considered this for a moment. “Yeah, we’ll talk to him too.”

“Right, we’ll split up, then.” Hermione said. “Neville, you take Natasha —“

“What, I don’t want Natasha!”

“You’re the one who can speak Russian.” Hermione pointed out, then continued, “Charlie, you talk to the Doctor, and I’ll take Castiel.”

“Um, maybe I should take Cas.” Charlie suggested, “Y’know, since I know him.”

“Fine. I’ll take the Doctor.”

“Later, bitches!” Charlie ran off towards the blue camp. Hermione took off after her. 

To be perfectly honest, Hermione had really wanted Castiel. So far, he proved completely harmless. He had a soft spot for Dean and as it seemed Peter, so it didn’t seem so hard to get information out of him. Natasha was terrifying, so Hermione _really_ didn’t want to have to confront her. She wished Neville the best of luck with that. The Doctor — well, for a while seemed pretty harmless, but since Mantis’s discovery, and then she was the first one out since then… it made one wonder. River Song claimed that she would go to her grave claiming that it wasn’t his fault, and maybe Natasha and therefore everyone else believed her, but Hermione wasn’t so sure. She had long ago learned not to believe everything that is told by the people around her. 

 

“Hey, Doctor.” The Doctor turned around, facing Hermione. 

“‘Ello, Hermione!”

“Hey… er — I wanted to talk to you about something really important.” The Doctor’s face changed somewhat, but it was hard to place. Less happy-go-lucky, more concerned?

“Well, what is it, then?”

“Doctor, there’s someone who’s been making me nervous, who maybe could be dangerous.” The Doctor nodded, deep in thought. “I mean, they’ve not yet _done_ anything, but what they can do, it scares me.” The Doctor was still nodding. Hermione was trying to play it strategic. 

“And he scares you?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I would tell you that maybe you should leave Peter alone.”

“What?”

“Listen, I’m not an idiot.” The Doctor sighed. “He’s not a danger or anything to be scared of, he’s just a normal kid —“

“Well, I’m not an idiot either!” Hermione cried, “I saw him! He lifted Sam off the ground! He knew every move before it was made!”

“They’re not my secrets to tell.” The Doctor said simply. “We all have things we’d rather keep to ourselves, that doesn’t make us bad or a monster.”

 Hermione sighed. “I’m just scared, Doctor.”

“And rightly so.” The Doctor said. “Fear is good, it keeps you fast.”

“That’s not super helpful when it’s lightning we need to outrun.” Hermione said dryly.

“I know.” The Doctor said, closing his eyes, he looked so tired. It was pretty clear that the Doctor hadn’t slept since they got here. 

“What can you tell me about Peter, then?” Hermione asked, “I mean, if you can’t tell his ‘secrets,’ what can you tell?”

“I can tell you he’s human, and that every day he works very hard to make the world a better place and that you should be very grateful for everything he’s done.”

 

Unsure what to make of the Doctor’s words, Hermione met back up with Charlie, Sam, a bewildered Neville, and a pissed off Natasha.

“The hell you think you’re doing?” Natasha demanded,

“You’re messing with something you’re not prepared for.”

“He is dangerous…” Hermione breathed.

“Peter?” Natasha laughed coldly. “No, that kid’s harmless. I was talking about me.” 

Yeah… that was even worse than the idea of Peter being dangerous.

“Look, we’ll leave it alone.” Hermione promised. “We’ll just leave the kid alone.”

“You better.” Natasha said venomously, and walked away.

“Damn.” Neville breathed.

“Did you really mean —?” Charlie began, but Hermione cut her off.

“No way, we just have to be more careful about it. The Doctor already seemed to know what we were trying to do.”

“What did he do?” Charlie asked.

“He didn’t _do_ anything, but he wasn’t happy. The only thing I got out of him was that Peter’s human and ‘every day he works very hard to make the world a better place,’ and that we should be grateful for whatever it is he’s done.”

“Yeah, Natasha didn’t give me anything…” Neville said.

“What happened with Cas?” Hermione asked.

“Cas wasn’t _super_ helpful.” Charlie admitted. “He told me Peter’d been teaching him ‘how things work’ and he has not yet gotten to people. They were still on objects, as Peter was also teaching him Starwars so that he’ll understand Dean’s references.”

“In other words, he hasn’t a clue.” Hermione sighed. “Sam, get anything from Dean?” 

“He could be one of a million things.” Sam explained, “we’ve yet to find something about him that points in one way or another. One interesting thing though,” Sam continued, “Was the advanced response. Peter reacted before it happened, which is actually unique to spiders.”

“Seriously?” 

“Well, to a lesser extent. See, I spoke with the Doctor — he’s practically a walking encyclopedia. I went with the spider lead, and apparently, spiders have this thing, Trichibothria. They’ve got small, sensitive hairs on their limbs, and each is attached to nerve cells, so they can detect airborne vibrations and currents. In other words, if Peter has Trichobothria, he can detect air currents before his eyes have to.”

“So, he’s like, a spider-dude?” Neville asked.

“Think about it,” Sam said, “the crazy high jumping, the tree climbing, the super strength?”

“Okay, so what do we do about it? Expose him?” Hermione asked.

“No…” Sam said thoughtfully. “No, I think we should wait. Don’t breathe a word of this to anyone else. If Natasha caught wind…”

“Agreed.”


	24. I'm Not Afraid Of The Dark

The Doctor

* * *

 

The Doctor hadn’t slept since they’d arrived at the island. One by one they were getting picked off and he had to do _something._ But there was nothing he could do. The dreaded note came, and once again, the Doctor found himself walking back to the beach. 

Each team stood, staring into the water where a large cage-like form was sticking out of the water, it looked to be chained at the bottom. They had no roof, but they were still pretty tall.

Martha picked up the note and began to read out the instructions:

_“Each team must swim the entire team out to the bamboo cage and climb over its walls back into the water where you will find eight fish traps, one for each of you. You must untie the cage door, push the traps through, and swim them back to shore. Each team member must open a trap. Inside of one from each team is a surprise that will make the game more_ exciting. _Go!”_

Thunder crashed across the island and the teams began to sprint into the water. Donna, Jethro, Jenny, Wilf, George, and the Doctor were all relatively good swimmers, but Castiel had yet learned how to swim (despite Sam and Dean attempting to teach him. Dean has Castiel clutching on to him, and the Doctor hovered beside them to make sure no one drowned.

Making it _to_ the cage wasn’t too hard, but making it over looked as though it would prove more difficult. At least Castiel could climb, and once Dean got him there, he scaled the wall and carefully climbed back down inside, clutching to the bamboo so as to stay afloat. 

The Doctor and Dean were the last two in, the Doctor looked over at the other teams, Charlie and Hermione weren’t super strong swimmers, but they could swim. The teamwork part looked as though it would be more difficult, as Natasha seemed furious with Hermione, Neville, Charlie, and Sam.

When it came to the green team, the Doctor has always admired their good team work, and they seemed to be doing quite well.

The Doctor dove down, they had decided that he would be the one to untie the door and start pushing traps through because of his superior physiology, specifically: his respiratory bypass.

He easily located the knot and began to untie it. The door slid open and the Doctor swam back up, signaling that he’d gotten it open. They began sending the traps through, Dean taking Castiel under and having him cling on the outside of the cage. The Doctor went back and forth, bringing out one for Dean, one for Castiel, and one for himself. 

The Doctor pushed back two, as did Jenny, as Dean was honestly just making sure Castiel didn’t drown. 

They returned to the beach, and found the green team was already there. They were all crowded around something, but the Doctor couldn’t quite see what. 

Dean was the first from the blue team to open his trap. 

Nothing.

Castiel went next.

Nothing.

Then came Jenny.

Once again, nothing.

Donna, Wilf, Jethro, And George opened theirs.

Still, nothing.

That left the Doctor.

The Doctor hesitated, opened the cage, and inside he found a small sealed letter.

He reached down to pick it up.

The moment the Doctor’s hand touched the envelope, he felt the darkness surround him, and he hit the ground.

 

The Doctor opened his eyes. At least, he thought he had. It was still dark. He blinked. Was it night? Pitch dark? But usually at night he had the stars above him. Where was he?

“Doctor?” The Doctor jumped, looking in the direction of the voice. 

“Dad?” 

“Jenny?” The Doctor called.

“I’m right here dad, can you — can you see me?”

“I — no.” The Doctor began to internally panic, but forced his body to appear calm. 

“Oh.” He suddenly breathed.

“What is it?” Jenny asked, she was holding his hand so that he knew where she was.

“I am so thick.” The Doctor cursed in Gallifreyan. “It’s a television show,” he explained. “Foreshadowing.”

“What?” Was that Donna’s voice? “Oi, Martin boy!” Yep definitely Donna.

“The challenge before, the other one where I couldn’t see. It was foreshadowing for now.”

“Oh,” Jethro whispered, “because it knew you’re afraid of the dark…” 

“I am not afraid of the dark!” The Doctor cried indignantly. “Anyway, who’s blind from the other teams?”

“Well, they’re not exactly blind…” George said.

“What do you mean?”

“They all got different ones.” Jethro explained. “You can’t see, Peter can’t hear, and Sam can’t talk.”

“And no one’s...?” The Doctor asked hopefully.

“No, Hermione’s gone.”


	25. Consequences

Sarah Jane Smith

* * *

 

Sarah Jane watched the Doctor jump to his feet, using Jenny to guide him. “Where’s Pete?”

“He’s over here,” Jenny guided him towards Peter, who looked incredibly anxious. He was looking around rapidly, as if expecting someone to attack him from behind.

“Is he watching me?” The Doctor asked.

Jenny began jumping up and down and waving at the boy, who looked up, narrowed his eyebrows in confusion, and approached.

“Yep, he is now.” Jenny grinned.

The Doctor began to sign to the boy. Peter quirked his head, “I —“ he cut himself off. He didn’t seem to like the sensation of talking because he couldn’t hear himself. He signed helplessly to Jenny. Sarah Jane has no clue he even knew sign language.

“He says he’s Gucci.” Jenny said.

“What?” The Doctor’s head tilted in confusion. Sarah Jane laughed.

“It means he’s good.”

“Oh.”

“Come on, Dad, why don’t we go back to the camp.” Jenny suggested, “you can feel your way around so you’ll be better with your surroundings.” The Doctor nodded and Jenny led him back towards the blue camp.

Sarah Jane waved at Peter, mouthing  _ hey. _

“H-hey.” 

“How are you  _ really  _ doing?” She enunciated.

“I’m kind of freaking out a little.” Peter said quietly. 

“Deep breaths.” Sarah said. Peter nodded. “You remind me a lot of my son, Luke.”

“What’s he like?” Peter asked. It was strange, whereas most deaf people were quite loud, Peter spoke softly, slowly, and very clearly, as if he were trying to feel the vibrations of his throat and the movement of his mouth.

So Sarah Jane began to talk. She watched Peter read her lips, and as the conversation continued, she would talk faster, slowing down if he got lost, but he was quick and clever, yes he was much like Luke.

“How’s Sam?” Peter asked suddenly. 

“What?”

“Sam.” Peter said louder, clearly thinking Sarah Jane couldn’t hear him.

“I don’t know, do you want to go see?” Peter nodded. 

Sarah Jane and Peter found Sam with Dean, Castiel, and Charlie. 

“Hey, can we talk to Sam for a minute?” Sarah Jane asked. Dean and Charlie narrowed their eyes. Castiel looked confused. 

Sam nodded, giving a reassuring look towards Dean and Charlie and followed Sarah Jane and Peter.

They didn’t walk that far, only far enough that Castiel, Dean, and Charlie couldn’t hear them.

“Are you okay?” Peter asked quietly. Sam nodded. Peter began to sign to Sam, who paused, and gave an out-of-practice sign back.

“If you need me, I’ll be at the blue camp.” Sarah Jane said to Peter, who nodded. 

 

Sarah Jane made her way to the blue camp so as to meet up with the Doctor.

When she found him, he was with Jenny, walking around the camp, dragging his hand along.

“Hey Doctor.”

“Sarah Jane!” The Doctor cried, looking in the vague direction she had come from.

“How’re you holding up?”

“Me? Fine, I am.” The Doctor grinned.

Jenny opened her mouth, but Sarah Jane held a finger to it, “Now, I don’t need your daughter to tell me that you’re not okay. Do I need to get River?”

The Doctor’s dull eyes widened. “You wouldn’t.”

“I would.”

“Don’t you dare!”

“Then talk to me!”

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Fine. I’m sure that’ll really convince River.”

“Sarah Jane Smith!”

“Bye, Doctor!”

“Fine!” Sarah Jane turned around, looking smug. The Doctor’s face was twisted into one of frustration, but there was that twinkle of amusement in his sightless eyes.

“Yes, I’m frustrated.” The Doctor sighed. “And the blindness doesn’t help.” Sarah Jane nodded. “I just can’t  _ do  _ anything.”

“But it’s not your fault —“

“Isn’t it?” 

“What?”

“Think about it; you, Martha, Mickey, Jack, Jethro, Jenny, Wilf, Donna, River… the one thing that connects them is me!”

“Doctor, don’t you dare blame this on yourself. You are the most wonderful man I have ever met and we  _ will  _ get out of here.”

The Doctor smiled, “That’s my Sarah Jane.”


	26. Stay Afloat

Jenny

* * *

Jenny opened her usually sleepless eyes to find herself asleep on a dock in the ocean. They were near the island, only maybe four or five miles. Looking around, it became evident that it was not a dock, but an anchored rowboat. Around her, were her unconscious teammates. She watched her father sleep for a minute. He hadn’t naturally slept since he arrived and, to be honest, he looked so peaceful. She almost didn’t want to wake him. But she hadn’t really a choice. She looked beside her to find the other two teams, also asleep on boats. She suddenly wondered why she was the only one who was awake, then she remembered, she was on a television show, and if there was anything a television show wanted, it was drama. She smiled, “If only you knew, dad.”

To be perfectly honest, that was total nonsense, but it sparked curiosity. The viewers would want to know what it was, she would drop random hints, and that would keep the both of them afloat until they could figure out a way out. The audience would want to see him learn whatever secret they thought she held. If there was anything was wanted on reality television, it was the audience.

Now that their moment was over, Jenny grabbed her dad’s shoulder.

The moment she touched his shoulder, everyone else on the boat began to shift. All waking up slowly.

“Dad.”

“Hmm?”

Jenny began to explain the situation to her dad as he walked around the boat, feeling for size and shape.

“What’s this, then?” Wilf said, as he was the first besides Jenny and her father to be properly up, and in his hand, he clutched a note. He began to read as the others woke up:

_ “Today’s task is easy: get back to the island. Last one there loses.” _

“Right, so where’s the paddles?” Dean asked.

“I don’t believe there are any, my human.” Castiel said.

“What?” Dean looked at Castiel in confusion.

“I sincerely apologize, Dean.” Castiel said nervously, “I was told it was customary to address a significant other by a nickname, like ‘sweetie’ or ‘angel,’ and since you are not an angel, I thought it best to address you —“ Dean grabbed Cas and pulled him into a hug.

“It’s great, Cas.”

“As cute as you lovebirds are,” Wilf said, “we haven’t any paddles and should pull up this anchor and head to shore.

Castiel and Dean broke apart, both grabbing the chain for the anchor and began heaving it up. 

There wasn’t really anything to paddle with, so they resolved to using their hands.

After twenty minutes of this, Donna said, “there has to be a better way of doing this.”

“What if we just swim behind it?” Jethro suggested.

“That’s actually a really good idea!” Jenny grinned,

“Jethro, George, and Dean, you come swim with me at the back. Everyone else, keep it up, and we’ll probably switch in and out some people periodically.”

She saw her dad make a face. She knew that he was well-aware that she did not mean to send him or the drownable Castiel into the water.

Now, it quickly became evident that swimming five miles was harder than it sounded, especially when you had to push a boat as well. Many times, Jenny’s father volunteered to swim behind the boat, but the last thing they wanted was for him to drown because he was too stubborn to stay on the boat.

As she swam, Jenny dared a glance at the other teams and found that, unsurprisingly, the red team was a little ways ahead of them, but green was a little ways back. 

“Hey, look at that!” Donna called, pointing at the green team’s raft.

They turned, only to see Natasha and Clint, swimming silently towards the green team’s boat. Before they could send a warning, Dean said, “But do we really want to make enemies with the red team?”

“But do we want to make enemies with the green team?” Jethro argued back.

“They won’t know.” Dean said confidently, “They don’t know we saw. If we keep going, we could make it first.”

“But it’s not right.” Wilf said.

“Life’s not right.” Dean said. “If we don’t play tactical, we’ll lose.”

“It’s just because you’re worried about your bloody brother.” Donna said, “We need to –”

“We don’t  _ need  _ to do anything.” Dean growled, but Donna didn’t back down.

“You think you’re so high and mighty because you fight bloody monsters, but if you take one minute and  _ think  _ maybe you won’t be so bloody selfish and realize that it needs to be won fair and square.” Dean laughed coldly.

“If there’s anything life’s taught me:  _ Nothing  _ is fair. You can fight your whole life for what’s right and still end up alone and with nothing.”

“And you’re right,” The Doctor said, much to everyone’s surprise. “You fight so hard for so long and you end up with nothing. But that’s just your problem. You fight for reward. Dean, I’ve been fighting for my whole life, through war and peace, destruction and renaissance, and all I’ve ever gotten is more to fight for. More people to die for. More life to live for. Protecting the Earth is my responsibility, and in the end, my reward is knowing that it’s safe.”

But the pause of argument had been too long, and they heard a scream. 

“Sorry about this, tiny spider.” Natasha said, flipping into Russian with Peter.

“There’s no need.” Peter said, jumping up like an acrobat, landing skillfully behind Natasha, kicking her legs beneath her. She recovered quickly, swiveling around and aiming for his right side, allowing Peter to prepare, then grabbing his left arm, flipping him over her back and into the water. 

“You’re getting better, tiny spider.” Natasha grinned proudly, “But you’ve still got work to do.”

“Come on, Nat.” Peter began swimming back to the boat.

Clint had already knocked off Mickey and Martha, and together, he and Natasha sent Star-Lord crashing into the water. They threw down the anchor, breaking off the lever that would help them bring the anchor back up. 

To their shock, it was Sarah Jane who knocked Clint into the water. She ran as fast as she could into the man, sending him into the ocean below.

“Get the hell off my boat.”

“Damn.” Captain Jack grinned.

They looked at Natasha, clearly expecting her to be angry, but she smirked, said, “I respect that.” And dove into the water, gesturing to Clint, and returning to the red team’s boat.

“We should have helped them.” Wilf said.

“Well, it’s too late now.” Dean grunted.

“No it’s not.” George said, jumping in and beginning to push the boat towards the green’s boat, as Jenny called for the green team to swim over.

Star-Lord, Martha, Mickey, Peter, Sarah Jane, Jack, Ginny, Mickey, and Luna began to swim over. 

By the time the green team had gotten over, the red team had managed to throw the stubborn Donna as well as Jethro off of them, and they returned to the blue team’s boat.

The combined power of the blue and green teams managed to overtake the red team, finally hitting the sand of the beach.

“We did it!” Ginny cried, pulling Jenny into a hug.

The red team arrived soon after. There seemed to be a lot of in-fighting. 

“It wasn’t right, and we got properly –”

“This is literally a game, Rogers,” Natasha argued back, “If we want to win, we have to play dirty!”

“But we didn’t win!”

Then, amidst the fighting, there was a clap of thunder, a flash of lightning, and Steve was gone.


	27. Tensions Rising

River Song

* * *

 

The red team were the first team to return to their camp. It was quiet. Tense. Most people retreated to their own private areas. Neville sat on a rock, facing away from his teammates. Natasha and Clint slid silently into the forest, as they were inseparable, and after a riveting story about Budipest, River Song knew why. But shockingly, Sam and Charlie separated. Ever since Sam became mute, he had begun to distance himself from the others, but still lingered around Clint, Natasha, and River Song, as they could all speak fluently to him in sign language (He was a bit messy and out of practice, but he studied it in college and remembered most of it), as well as Charlie, as they had been friends from before, but now he wanted nothing to do with anyone and retired to his bed to do some “thinking.”

It was odd to be around the camp without Steve. As annoying as the captain’s constant unity speeches were, it did bring them all together. Well, gave them all something to complain about together, but more than once, River Song had seen Steve watching them complain with a smile on his face, so something told her that he was well aware that it helped and was more than happy to do it again.

The day turned to night and the team still refused to speak to each other (with the exception of Clint and Natasha, of course), so River Song decided to make her way to the blue team’s camp to meet up with her husband.

“Hello, sweetie.” The Doctor jumped, spinning around. River Song placed her hands on his shoulders. 

“River?”

“Who else would it be?”

The Doctor sighed and closed his sightless eyes. River sat down beside him. 

“Who are you, River?” He said finally. 

“Spoilers.” River Song breathed back regretfully.

“But how do you know my name?” The Doctor breathed. 

“You told me.” River promised. The Doctor nodded, he seemed to accept it, even if he didn’t seem completely sure. 

“So, how’s your team faring?” The Doctor asked after a long silence. 

“We’re…struggling.” River sighed. “It’s been difficult without Steve, and the fact that we were our own downfall is frustrating a lot of people.”

The Doctor hummed in acknowledgment. 

“How’s your team, then?” River asked.

“Good, good.” The Doctor said.

“And how are you?”

“Fine, brilliant even.”

“Rule number one, sweetie.” River whispered in his ear, “The Doctor lies.”

The Doctor’s mouth quirked up slightly in amusement. “That he does.” And for the first time in a long time, he didn’t just talk, he spoke.

 

The Doctor and River spoke through the day and long after the sun had set. Jenny eventually joined them, it was a calm night and the wind blew through the trees, which seemed helpful for the Doctor, as it was easier for him to orient himself.

Finally, River and the Doctor curled up together, River listening to the Doctor as his breathing finally slowed and he finally fell asleep. It was only a minute or two before she heard soft footsteps treading across the ground. Extracting herself from her husband’s arms, River slid out into the cool night air, following the footsteps. It couldn’t be Castiel, Donna, or Wilf, River decided, for none of them could possibly be sneaky enough to create this little noise. That left Dean, George, Jenny, or Jethro. She suddenly froze as she heard a voice, not wanting to make a sound or miss a word.

“Thank you for meeting with me.” Was that Luna?

There was a grunt of acknowledgement. “Yeah, what do you want?” Dean? What was he doing with Luna?

“It’s Star-Lord,” Luna said, “He’s trying to build a raft off the island.”

Dean let out a gruff laugh, “Yeah, like that’ll work. If the Doc’s right, and this is some gameshow, then we’re not gettin’ out that easy.”

“I would agree, but there’s got to be a way out.”

“Sam and I think it might be Gabriel, and so we all just have to play along, but Cas doesn’t seem to think so. He said Gabriel would play with us, not kill us.”

“Gabriel?”

“Archangel. Trickster god.”

“Yeah, but there are a lot of other trickster gods.” Luna pointed out. “The other day, Peter was talking about Thor, from Norse Mythology, it stands to reason that if he exists, then Loki could too.”

Dean grunted in agreement. “Right, we need to figure out how to kill this thing. I’ll have to ask Cas and see if I can –” He hesitated, “–Communicate with Sam.”

“The Doctor –”

“I ain’t talkin’ to the Doctor about this.”

“Okay… But even if we can figure out how to deal with this, how do we even find it?”

“Well, in my experience, it’s probably one of us…”

“Oh.”

Dean got up real close to Luna. Through the Dark, River could see he was holding a makeshift knife. 

“Don’t breathe a word of this to anyone.”

Luna nodded, promised not to, and disappeared back into the night. 

Without warning, Dean slammed into River, knife to her throat.

“Well, well, well.” He said menacingly, “What do we have here?”

“Hello, Dean.” She said.

“So, I think we’ve found our trickster.”

River laughed. “Don’t get too excited. Your exit wasn’t exactly silent, and how am I supposed to know you’re not the trickster?” She said it boldly, unconcerned of the knife at her throat.

Dean laughed. “Here’s the deal, Queen Victoria: You’re gonna do what I say, so I can keep everyone safe.”

“Don’t flatter yourself.” River said. “You seem to be under the impression that you’re in control here.”

“I’m the one with the knife –”

River grabbed his forearm, aiming her legs to knock his, but he swung his legs away, grabbing both of her wrists and pinning her against the tree.

“I will admit, this isn’t the first time I’ve found myself in this position.”

Dean smirked, and just as he did so, River slammed her knee between his legs, he crumpled.

“And it’s certainly not the first time I’ve gotten out of it.” 

River strode away confidently, leaving Dean to recover himself in the forest alone. She had a lot to think about.


	28. A Quick Dip

Peter Parker

* * *

 

Peter opened his eyes. It was early morning, but he was lying on the beach. Curious, he remembered returning to the shelter last night. He looked around, it was the main beach where they had first crashed. Not a good sign. On it, the teams lay, each member lying an equal, neat, distance from the other. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement. He turned to see Martha on the other side of their team, waving. She held up a note and walked it over to him. He began to read:

 

_ Your friends are in a comma. Two of your members are awake, and in order to awaken your team, you must transport them to the dock by any means possible, where you will find an antidote. Only once your entire team has been woken can you begin to swim back. Go. _

 

Peter looked around to see who from the other teams were awake. From the red team, it was Sam and River, and from the blue team, it was Jethro and Dean. 

_ Okay, Peter.  _ Martha began to mouth slowly.  _ They’re unconscious, so we need to keep their head above the water. _

“Y-yeah, I know.” Peter said, it was still strange to know he was using his voice, but unable to hear it.

_ We need to build a raft. _ Martha mouthed.

“C-can’t we –”

_ We don’t have time, Peter! _

“But Martha –”

_ Listen – er – look, Peter.  _ Martha sighed.  _ You’re just a kid. _

“I’m not a kid!” All eyes fell on Peter, he must have been louder than he intended.

_ Then let’s build a raft. _

“Fine.”

Martha grabbed some wood and began to tie the planks together. Peter looked around, intending to see what everyone else was doing. Red was already in the water; River Song was dragging both Natasha and Clint expertly, their heads on her shoulders so that their faces wouldn’t fall into the water. Sam was mimicking this, but he did not seem to be as practiced in the water, and therefore he only carried Charlie, leaving Neville for a second trip. 

The blue team, on the other hand, was expertly building a raft. Peter grabbed Martha’s shoulder and pointed. She cursed.

_ We should just carry them. Come on. _

Peter rolled his eyes, but grabbed Sarah Jane and Ginny. His super strength would help here. He may not be the strongest swimmer, but Uncle Ben had taught him to swim a long time ago, so he knew the skills, even if he was a bit rusty. Martha had Star-Lord, but seemed to be struggling to also grab Jack, so she put him down and they began swimming over with just the three.

Once Peter and Martha had deposited their team onto the dock, Peter looked around. Blue was already finishing up their raft, and River Song was on her way back to get Neville, Sam staying behind.

“Come on!”

Peter didn’t turn around to see Martha’s response, jumping back into the water.

It was strange to swim without the ability to hear. Now that he wasn’t concentrating on keeping Sarah Jane and Ginny afloat, that Peter realized how strange it was. You don’t really realize the sounds that you hear around you until you can’t hear them. That subtle rushing of the water pounding in your ears, the rhythmic pulse of the ocean around you. But now all was silent. Completely silent.

Peter pulled himself out of the water, grabbing Mickey and Luna, Martha right behind him grabbing Jack. 

As he dragged Mickey and Luna through the water, Peter looked around again. River Song was already halfway across the water with Neville. The blue team, however, had finally finished their raft, but for the time that it took, it looked expertly built. Jethro and Dean looked relatively proud; it wasn’t going to sink any time soon. They had every member of their team upon it.

River Song was the first to return to the dock. “Where’s the antidote?” Peter could read her lips as she spoke to Sam, who had just emerged from under the dock, a box in hand. 

Peter and Martha got to the dock right as Dean and Jethro did. Jethro dove under, having seen where the antidote was located from the red team. Peter pushed Mickey and Luna up, diving down as well. 

Beneath the center of the dock, there was a box tied to the wood. Fumbling fingers untied the rope as Peter’s lungs began to burn for air. But this was a matter of life and death, and he couldn’t afford to lose time. 

Finally, wrenching the box from the rope, Peter flung himself onto the dock, breathing heavily. Martha grabbed the box from him, quickly beginning to administer the antidote. 

Peter cast his eyes around once more. Jethro and Dean were helping their slowly waking team back onto the raft. River Song and Sam had pushed their team into the water, who were still groggy and struggling.

_ We have to hurry! _ Martha mouthed.

“I know.” Peter growled back, grabbing Sarah Jane and Luna, who were still waking and jumped into the water with them, assisting them as they swam, hoping they could move fast enough.

They had only just made it off the dock when Peter had an idea.

“Will you be okay?” Sarah Jane and Luna nodded, and Peter swam back to the dock, climbing onto it. 

The red team were already pulling pretty far ahead. Blue was in front, but they were too far ahead to reasonably catch. 

_ What are you doing?  _ Martha mouthed angrily.

“I have an idea!” Peter called back, “Just swim!”

Peter backed up until he was in the very back corner, and he sprinted. On his last possible step, he launched himself into the air, wishing he had his web shooters to make this easier. He flew through the air (He’d like to say it was majestic, but let’s be real).

Peter felt impact as he slammed into someone. Looking up, he found himself face to face with Sam. Well, his luck could’ve been better. 

_ I got him!  _ Peter had managed to catch the words on Natasha’s lips out of the corner of his eye.

“Oh shit.”

_ Careful, Steve’ll… _ Clint laughed, then his laugh faded.  _ Right, anyway… _

Grabbing Peter, Natasha and Clint each took an arm. 

Peter couldn’t exactly see the moment they called for action, but he soon found himself flying back through the air, colliding painfully with the dock.

_ You good, Pete?  _ Peter could see Martha mouthing from across the water. Peter nodded wordlessly, diving back into the water to catch up with his team.

About halfway across, Peter looked up to find blue team arriving back at the beach, cheering and celebrating. Now it was just a race with red team. Yeah, that was not looking good. 

The red team was about two thirds of the way there, whilst green was only about halfway. Peter internally cursed, “We need to do something!” Peter called. Martha appeared to have heard, as she nodded.

_ Distract them?  _ Luna suggested.

_ How? We can’t catch them.  _ Ginny pointed out.

_ I think we just have to keep moving forwards as fast as we can.  _ Sarah Jane said. There was a reluctant agreement, and they continued moving. 

 

It wasn’t long before the red team made it to the shore. There was an echo of defeat ringing across the island that even Peter could hear. 

Mercifully, whoever was controlling this gave the green team time to swim back to shore. Peter could see the Doctor talking about how this meant it was less cause and effect, and had to be personally controlled because this was a judgement and if it was anything else, there would have to be a code written in it. To be perfectly honest, as far as Peter was concerned, as fascinating as all this was, he didn’t care. Someone was about to die and he couldn’t do anything about it. 

They stood around, waiting. It was unusual to have to wait. Maybe it was just to build up dramatic tension, maybe it was just to mess with them. 

_ Maybe none of us will –  _ Star-Lord began hopefully, but without warning, there was a crash of thunder and a flash of lighting.

_ Maybe it was just deciding who to pick. _


End file.
